Glass 
Book 



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DANIEL WEBSTER 



HENRY CABOT LODGE 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
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Copyright, 1883, 
By HENRY CABOT LODGE. 

All rights reserved. 



The Riverside Press , Cambridge ; Mass., U. S. A. 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company 



CONTENTS. 



♦ 

CHAPTER I. PAGI 
Childhood and Youth 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Law and Politics in New Hampshire .... 34 

CHAPTER ni. 

The Dartmouth College Case. — Mr. Webster as a 
Lawyer 72 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Massachusetts Convention and the Plymouth 
Oration 110 

CHAPTER V. 

Return to Congress 129 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Tariff of 1828 and the Reply to Hayne . 154 

CHAPTER VH. 

The Struggle with Jackson and the Rise of the 
Whig Party 205 

CHAPTER Vni. 
Secretary of State. — The Ashburton Treaty . 241 



ri CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK IX. 

PAGE 

Return to the Senate. — The Seventh op March 
Speech 264 



CHAPTER X. 

The Last Years . . ■ ■„ • . . 4 . • • . 333 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 

No sooner was the stout Puritan Common- 
Wealth of Massachusetts firmly planted than it be- 
gan rapidly to throw out branches in all directions. 
With every succeeding year the long, thin, sinuous 
line of settlements stretched farther and farther 

Note. — In preparing this volume I have carefully examined 
all the literature contemporary and posthumous relating to Mr. 
Webster. I have not gone beyond the printed material, of which 
there is a vast mass, much of it of no value, but which contains 
all and more than is needed to obtain a correct understanding of 
the man and of his public and private life. No one can pretend 
to write a life of Webster without following in large measure the 
narrative of events as given in the elaborate, careful, and schol- 
arly biography which we owe to Mr. George T. Curtis. In many 
of my conclusions I have differed widely from those of Mr. Cur- 
tis, but I desire at the outset to acknowledge fully my obligations 
to him. I have sought information in all directions, and have ob- 
tained some fresh material, and, as I believe, have thrown a new 
light upon certain points, but this does not in the least diminish 
the debt which I owe to the ample biography of Mr. Curtis in re- 
gard to the details as well as the general outline of Mr. Webster's 
public and private life. 

i 



2 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



away to the northeast, fringing the wild shores of 
the Atlantic with houses and farms gathered to- 
gether at the mouths or on the banks of the riv- 
ers, and with the homes of hardy fishermen which 
clustered in little groups beneath the shelter of 
the rocky headlands. The extension of these 
plantations was chiefly along the coast, but there 
was also a movement up the river courses toward 
the west and into the interior. The line of north- 
eastern settlements began first to broaden in this 
way very slowly but still steadily from the planta- 
tions at Portsmouth and Dover, which were nearly 
coeval with the flourishing towns of the Bay. 
These settlements beyond the Massachusetts line 
all had one common and marked characteristic. 
They were all exposed to Indian attack from the 
earliest days down to the period of the Revolu- 
tion. Long after the dangers of Indian raids had 
become little more than a tradition to the popu- 
lous and flourishing communities of Massachusetts 
Bay, the towns and villages of Maine and New 
Hampshire continued to be the outposts of a dark 
and bloody border land. French and Indian war- 
fare with all its attendant horrors was the normal 
condition during the latter part of the seventeenth 
and the first quarter of the eighteenth century. 
Even after the destruction of the Jesuit missions, 
every war in Europe was the signal for the ap- 
pearance of Frenchmen and savages in northeast- 
ern New England, where their course was marked 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



3 



by rapine and slaughter, and lighted by the flames 
of burning villages. The people thus assailed 
were not slow in taking frequent and thorough 
vengeance, and so the conflict, with rare intermis- 
sions, went on until the power of France was de- 
stroyed, and the awful danger from the north, 
which had hung over the land for nearly a cen- 
tury, was finally extinguished. 

The people who waged this fierce war and man- 
aged to make headway in despite of it were en- 
gaged at the same time in a conflict with nature 
which was hardly less desperate. The soil, even 
in the most favored places, was none of the best, 
and the predominant characteristic of New Hamp- 
shire was the great rock formation which has 
given it the name of the Granite State. Slowly 
and painfully the settlers made their way back 
into the country, seizing on every fertile spot, and 
wringing subsistence and even a certain prosper- 
ity from a niggardly soil and a harsh climate. 
Their little hamlets crept onward toward the base 
of those beautiful hills which have now become 
one of the favorite play-grounds of America, but 
which then frowned grimly even in summer, dark 
with trackless forests, and for the larger part of 
the year were sheeted with the glittering, untram- 
pled snow from which they derive their name. 
Stern and strong with the force of an unbroken 
vilderness, they formed at all times a forbidding 
background to the sparse settlements in the val« 
leys and on the seashore» 



4 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



This life of constant battle with nature and 
with the savages, this work of wresting a subsist- 
ence from the unwilling earth while the hand was 
always armed against a subtle and cruel foe, had, 
of course, a marked effect upon the people who 
endured it. That, under such circumstances, men 
should have succeeded not only in gaining a liveli- 
hood, but should have attained also a certain meas- 
ure of prosperity, established a free government, 
founded schools and churches, and built up a 
small but vigorous and thriving commonwealth, is 
little short of marvellous. A race which could do 
this had an enduring strength of character which 
was sure to make itself felt through many genera- 
tions, not only on their ancestral soil, but in every 
region where they wandered in search of a fortune 
denied to them at home. The people of New 
Hampshire were of the English Puritan stock. 
They were the borderers of New England, and 
were among the hardiest and boldest of their race. 
Their fierce battle for existence during nearly a 
century and a half left a deep impress upon them. 
Although it did not add new traits to their char- 
acter, it strengthened and developed many of the 
qualities which chiefly distinguished the Puritan 
Englishman. These borderers, from lack of oppor- 
tunity, were ruder than their more favored breth- 
ren to the south, but they were also more persist- 
ent, more tenacious, and more adventurous. They 
were a vigorous., bold, unforgiving, fighting race, 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, 



5 



hard and stern even beyond the ordinary stand* 
ard of Puritanism. 

Among the Puritans who settled in New Hamp- 
shire about the year 1636, during the great emi- 
gration which preceded the Long Parliament, was 
one bearing the name of Thomas Webster. He 
was said to be of Scotch extraction, but was, if 
this be true, undoubtedly of the Lowland or Saxon 
Scotch as distinguished from the Gaels of the 
Highlands. He was, at all events, a Puritan of 
English race, and his name indicates that his pro- 
genitors were sturdy mechanics or handicraftsmen. 
This Thomas Webster had numerous descendants, 
who scattered through New Hampshire to earn a 
precarious living, found settlements, and fight In- 
dians. In Kingston, in the year 1739, was born 
one of this family named Ebenezer Webster. 
The struggle for existence was so hard for this 
particular scion of the Webster stock, that he was 
obliged in boyhood to battle for a living and pick 
up learning as he best might by the sole aid of a 
naturally vigorous mind. He came of age during 
the great French war, and about 1760 enlisted in 
the then famous corps known as " Rogers's Ran- 
gers." In the dangers and the successes of des- 
perate frontier fighting, the " Rangers " had no 
equal ; and of their hard and perilous experience 
in the wilderness, in conflict with Indians and 
Frenchmen, Ebenezer Webster, strong in body 
and daring in temperament, had his full share. 



8 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



When the war closed, the young soldier and In* 
dian fighter had time to look about him for a 
home. As might have been expected, he clung 
to the frontier to which he was accustomed, and 
in the year 1763 settled in the northernmost part 
of the town of Salisbury. Here he built a log- 
house, to which, in the following year, he brought 
his first wife, and here he began his career as a 
farmer. At that time there was nothing civilized 
between him and the French settlements of Can- 
ada. The wilderness stretched away from his 
door an ocean of forest unbroken by any white 
man's habitation ; and in these primeval woods, 
although the war was ended and the French power 
overthrown, there still lurked roving bands of 
savages, suggesting the constant possibilities of 
a midnight foray or a noonday ambush, with 
their accompaniments of murder and pillage. It 
was a fit home, however, for such a man as Eben- 
ezer Webster. He was a borderer in the fullest 
sense in a commonwealth of borderers. He was, 
too, a splendid specimen of the New England 
race ; a true descendant of ancestors who had 
been for generations yeomen and pioneers. Tall, 
large, dark of hair and eyes, in the rough world 
in which he found himself he had been thrown at 
once upon his own resources without a day's 
schooling, and compelled to depend on his own 
innate force of sense and character for success. 
He had had a full experience of desperate fighting 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



7 



with Frenchmen and Indians, and, the war over, 
he had returned to his native town with his hard- 
won rank of captain. Then he had married, and 
had established his home upon the frontier, where 
he remained battling against the grim desolation 
of the wilderness and of the winter, and against 
all the obstacles of soil and climate, with the same 
hardy bravery with which he had faced the Indi- 
ans. After ten years of this life, in 1774, his wife 
died and within a twelvemonth he married again. 

Soon after this second marriage the alarm of 
war with England sounded, and among the first to 
respond was the old ranger and Indian fighter, 
Ebenezer Webster. In the town which had 
grown up near his once solitary dwelling he raised 
a company of two hundred men, and marched at 
their head, a splendid looking leader, dark, mas- 
sive, and tall, to join the forces at Boston. We 
get occasional glimpses of this vigorous figure dur- 
ing the war. At Dorchester, Washington con- 
sulted him about the state of feeling in New 
Hampshire. At Bennington, we catch sight of 
him among the first who scaled the breastworks, 
and again coming out of the battle, his swarthy 
skin so blackened with dust and gunpowder that 
he could scarcely be recognized. We hear of him 
once more at West Point, just after Arnold's trea- 
son, on guard before the general's tent, and Wash* 
ington says to him, " Captain Webster, I believe 
I can trust you." That was what everybody seems 



8 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



to have felt about this strong, silent, uneducated 
man. His neighbors trusted him. They gave 
him every office in their gift, and finally he was 
made judge of the local court. In the intervals of 
his toilsome and adventurous life he had picked up 
a little book-learning, but the lack of more barred 
the way to the higher honors which would other- 
wise have been easily his. There were splendid 
sources of strength in this man, the outcome of 
such a race, from which his children could draw. 
He was, to begin with, a magnificent animal, and 
had an imposing bodily presence and appearance. 
He had courage, energy, and tenacity, all in high 
degree. He was business-like, a man of few 
words, determined, and efficient. He had a great 
capacity for affection and self-sacrifice, noble as- 
pirations, a vigorous mind, and, above all, a strong, 
pure character which invited trust. Force of will, 
force of mind, force of character ; these were the 
three predominant qualities in Ebenezer Webster. 
His life forms the necessary introduction to that 
of his celebrated son, and it is well worth study, 
because we can learn from it how much that son 
got from a father so finely endowed, and how far 
he profited by such a rich inheritance. 

By his first wife, Ebenezer Webster had five 
children. By his second wife, Abigail Eastman, 
a woman of good sturdy New Hampshire stock 
he had likewise five. Of these, the second son 
and fourth child was born on the eighteenth of 



J* 

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 9 

January, 1782, and was christened Daniel. The 
infant was a delicate and rather sickly little being. 
Some cheerful neighbors predicted after inspection 
that it would not live long, and the poor mother, 
overhearing them, caught the child to her bosom 
and wept over it. She little dreamed of the iron 
constitution hidden somewhere in the small frail 
body, and still less of all the glory and sorrow to 
which her baby was destined. 

For many years, although the boy disappointed 
the village Cassandras by living, he continued 
weak and delicate. Manual labor, which began 
very early with the children of New Hampshire 
farmers, was out of the question in his case, and 
so Daniel was allowed to devote much of his time 
to play, for which he showed a decided aptitude. 
It was play of the best sort, in the woods and 
fields, where he learned to love nature and natural 
objects, to wonder at floods, to watch the habits 
of fish and birds, and to acquire a keen taste for 
field sports. His companion was an old British 
sailor, who carried the child on his back, rowed 
with him on the river, taught him the angler's art, 
and, best of all, poured into his delighted ear end- 
less stories of an adventurous life, of Admiral 
Byng and Lord George Germaine, of Minden and 
Gibraltar, of Prince Ferdinand and General Gage, 
of Bunker Hill, and finally of the American armies, 
to which the soldier-sailor had deserted. The boy 
repaid this devoted friend by reading the newspa- 



10 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



pers to him ; and he tells us in his autobiography 
that he could not remember when he did not 
read, so early was he taught by his mother and 
sisters, in true New England fashion. At a very 
early age he began- to go to school ; sometimes in 
his native town, sometimes in another, as the dis- 
trict school moved from place to place. The mas- 
ters who taught in these schools knew nothing but 
the barest rudiments, and even some of those im- 
perfectly. One of them who lived to a great age, 
enlightened perhaps by subsequent events, said 
that Webster had great rapidity of acquisition 
and was the quickest boy in school. He certainly 
proved himself the possessor of a very retentive 
memory, for when this pedagogue offered a jack- 
knife as a reward to the boy who should be able to 
recite the greatest number of verses from the Bi- 
ble, Webster, on the following day, when his turn 
came, arose and reeled off verses until the master 
cried "enough," and handed him the coveted 
prize. Another of his instructors kept a small 
store, and from him the boy bought a handker- 
chief on which was printed the Constitution just 
adopted, and, as he read everything and remem- 
bered much, he read that famous instrument to 
which he was destined to give so much of his time 
and thought. When Mr. Webster said that he 
read better than any of his masters, he was proba- 
bly right. The power of expression and of speech 
and readiness in reply were his greatest natural 



CEIL DUO OB AND YOUTH. 



11 



gifts, and, however much improved by cultiva- 
tion, were born in hini. His talents were known 
in the neighborhood, and the passing teamsters, 
while they watered their horses, delighted to get 
" Webster's boy," with his delicate look and great 
dark eyes, to come out beneath the shade of the 
trees and read the Bible to them with all the force 
of his childish eloquence. He describes his own 
existence at that time with perfect accuracy. " I 
read what I could get to read, went to school when 
I could, and when not at school, w r as a farmer's 
youngest boy, not good for much for want of 
health and strength, but expected to do some- 
thing." That something consisted generally in 
tending the saw-mill, but the reading went on 
even there. He would set a log, and while it was 
going through would devour a book. There was 
a small circulating library in the village, and 
Webster read everything it contained, committing 
most of the contents of the precious volumes to 
memory, for books were so scarce that he believed 
this to be their chief purpose. 

In the year 1791 the brave old soldier, Ebenezer 
Webster, was made a judge of the local court, and 
thus got a salary of three or four hundred dollars 
a year. This accession of wealth turned his 
thoughts at once toward that education which he 
had missed, and he determined that he would 
give to his children what he had irretrievably lost 
himself. Two years later he disclosed his pur- 



12 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



pose to his son, one hot day in the hay-field, with 
a manly regret for his own deficiencies and a touch- 
ing pathos which the boy never forgot. The next 
spring his father took Daniel to Exeter Academy. 
This was the boy's first contact with the world, and 
there was the usual sting which invariably accom- 
panies that meeting. His school-mates laughed at 
his rustic dress and manners, and the poor little 
farm lad felt it bitterly. The natural and uncon- 
scious power by which he had delighted the team- 
sters was stifled, and the greatest orator of modern 
times never could summon sufficient courage to 
stand up and recite verses before these Exeter 
school-boys. Intelligent masters, however, per- 
ceived something of what was in the lad, and gave 
him a kindly encouragement. He rose rapidly in 
the classes, and at the end of nine months his father 
took him away in order to place him as a pupil 
with a neighboring clergyman. As they drove 
over, about a month later, to Boscawen, where 
Dr. W ood, the future preceptor, lived, Ebenezer 
Webster imparted to his son the full extent of his 
plan, which was to end in a college education. 
The joy at the accomplishment of his dearest and 
most fervent wish, mingled with a full sense of the 
magnitude of the sacrifice and of the generosity 
of his father, overwhelmed the boy. Always affec- 
tionate and susceptible of strong emotion, these 
tidings overcame him. He laid his head upon his 
father's shoulder and wept. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 



13 



With Dr. Wood Webster remained only six 
months. He went home on one occasion, but hay- 
ing was not to his tastes. He found it " dull and 
lonesome," and preferred rambling in the woods 
with his sister in search of berries, so that his in- 
dulgent father sent him back to his studies. With 
the help of Dr. Wood in Latin, and another tutor 
in Greek, he contrived to enter Dartmouth Col- 
lege in August, 1797. He was, of course, hastily 
and poorly prepared. He knew something of 
Latin, very little of Greek, and next to nothing 
of mathematics, geography, or history. He had 
devoured everything in the little libraries of Salis- 
bury and Boscawen, and thus had acquired a des- 
ultory knowledge of a limited amount of English 
literature, including Addison, Pope, Watts, and 
" Don Quixote." But however little he knew, 
the gates of learning were open, and he had en- 
tered the precincts of her temple, feeling dimly 
but surely the first pulsations of the mighty in- 
tellect with which he was endowed. 

" In those boyish days," he wrote many years 
afterwards, " there were two things which I did 
dearly love, reading and playing, — passions which 
did net cease to struggle when boyhood was over, 
(have tksy yet altogether?) and in regard to 
which neither cita mors nor the victoria Iceta could 
be said of either." In truth they did not cease, 
these two strong passions. One was of the head, 
the other of the heart ; one typified the intellect- 



14 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ual, the other the animal strength of the boy's 
nature ; and the two contending forces went with 
him to the end. The childhood of Webster has 
a deep interest which is by no means usual. Great 
men in their earliest years are generally much like 
other boys, despite the efforts of their biographers 
to the contrary If they are not, they are very 
apt to be little prigs like the second Pitt, full of 
" wise saws and modern instances." Webster was 
neither the one nor the other. He was simple, 
natural, affectionate, and free from pertness or 
precocity. At the same time there was an in- 
nate power which impressed all those who ap- 
proached him without their knowing exactly why, 
and there was abundant evidence of uncommon 
talents. Webster's boyish days are pleasant to 
look upon, but they gain a peculiar lustre from 
the noble character of his father, the deep solici- 
tude of his mother, and the generous devotion and 
self-sacrifice of both parents. There was in this 
something prophetic. Every one about the boy 
was laboring and sacrificing for him from the be- 
ginning, and this was not without its effect upon 
his character. A little anecdote which was cur- 
rent in Boston many years ago condenses the 
whole situation. The story may be true or false, 
— it is very probably unfounded, — but it con- 
tains an essential truth and illustrates the char- 
acter of the boy and the atmosphere in which he 
grew up. Ezekiel, the oldest son, and Danie] 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



15 



were allowed on one occasion to go to a fait in a 
neighboring town, and each was furnished with 
a little money from the slender store at home. 
When they returned in the evening, Daniel was 
radiant with enjoyment; Ezekiel rather silent. 
Their mother inquired as to their adventures, and 
finally asked Daniel what he did with his money. 
" Spent it," was the reply. " And what did you 
do with yours, Ezekiel?" " Lent it to Daniel." 
That answer well sums up the story of Webster's 
home life in childhood. All were giving or lend- 
ing to Daniel of their money, their time, their 
activity, their love and affection. This petting 
was partly due to Webster's delicate health, but 
it was also in great measure owing to his nature. 
He was one of those rare and fortunate beings who 
without exertion draw to themselves the devotion 
of other people, and are always surrounded by men 
and women eager to do and to suffer for them. 
The boy accepted all that was showered upon him, 
not without an obvious sense that it was his due. 
He took it in the royal spirit which is character- 
istic of such natures ; but in those childish days 
when laughter and tears came readily, he repaid 
the generous and sacrificing love with the warm 
and affectionate gratitude of an earnest nature 
and a naturally loving heart. He was never cold, 
or selfish, or designing. Others loved him, and 
sacrificed to him, but he loved them in return and 
appreciated their sacrifices. These conditions of 



16 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



his early days must, however, have had an effect 
upon his disposition and increased his belief in the 
fitness of having the devotion of other people as 
one of his regal rights and privileges, while, at the 
same time, it must have helped to expand his af- 
fections and give warmth to every generous feel- 
ing. 

The passions for reading and play went with 
him to Dartmouth, the little New Hampshire col- 
lege of which he was always so proud and so fond. 
The instruction there was of good quality enough, 
but it was meagre in quantity and of limited 
range, compared to what is offered by most good 
high schools of the present day. In the reminis- 
cences of his fellow -students there is abundant 
material for a picture of Webster at that time. 
He was recognized by all as the foremost man in 
the college, as easily first, with no second. Yet 
at the same time Mr. Webster was neither a stu- 
dent nor a scholar in the truest sense of the words. 
He read voraciously all the English literature he 
could lay his hands on, and remembered every- 
thing he read. He achieved familiarity with Latin 
and with Latin authors, and absorbed a great deal 
of history. He was the best general scholar in the 
college. He was not only not deficient but he 
showed excellence at recitation in every branch of 
study. He could learn anything if he tried. But 
with all this he never gained more than a smat« 
cering of Greek and still less of mathematics, 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 17 

because those studies require, for anything more 
than a fair proficiency, a love of knowledge for 
its own sake, a zeal for learning incompatible with 
indolence, and a close, steady, and disinterested at- 
tention. These were not the characteristics of Mr. 
Webster's mind. He had a marvellous power of 
rapid acquisition, but he learned nothing unless 
he liked the subject and took pleasure in it or else 
was compelled to the task. This is not the stuff 
from which the real student, with an original or 
inquiring mind, is made. It is only fair to say 
that this estimate, drawn from the opinions of his 
fellow-students, coincided with his own, for he was 
too large-minded and too clear-headed to have any 
small vanity or conceit in judging himself. He 
said soon after he left college, and with perfect 
truth, that his scholarship was not remarkable, nor 
equal to what he was credited with. He ex- 
plained his reputation after making this confession 
by saying that he read carefully, meditated on 
what he had read, and retained it so that on any 
subject he was able to tell all he knew to the 
best advantage, and was careful never to go be- 
yond his depth. There is no better analysis of 
Mr. Webster's strongest qualities of mind than 
this made by himself in reference to his college 
standing. Rapid acquisition, quick assimilation of 
ideas, an iron memory, and a wonderful power of 
stating and displaying all he knew characterized 

him then as in later life. The extent of his knowt 
2 



18 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



edge and the range of his mind, not the depth or 
soundness of his scholarship, were the traits which 
his companions remembered. One of them says 
that they often felt that he had a more extended 
understanding than the tutors to whom he recited, 
and this was probably true. The Faculty of the 
college recognized in Webster the most remarka- 
ble man who had ever come among them, but they 
could not find good grounds to award him the 
prizes^ which, by his standing among his fellows, 
ought by every rule to have been at his feet. He 
had all the promise of a great man, but he was 
not a fine scholar. 

He was studious, punctual, and regular in all 
his habits. He was so dignified that his friends 
would as soon have thought of seeing President 
Wheeloek indulge in boyish disorders as of seeing 
him. But with all his dignity and seriousness 
of talk and manner, he was a thoroughly genial 
companion, full of humor and fun and agreeable 
conversation. He had few intimates, but many 
friends. He was generally liked as well as uni- 
versally admired, was a leader in the college so- 
cieties, active and successful in sports, simple, 
hearty, unaffected, without a touch of priggish- 
ness and with a wealth of wholesome animal 
spirits. 

But in these college days, besides the vague 
feeling of students and professors that they had 
among them a very remarkable man, there is a 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 



19 



clear indication that the qualities which after- 
wards raised him to fame and power were already 
apparent, and affected the little world about him. 
All his contemporaries of that time speak of his 
eloquence. The gift of speech, the unequalled 
power of statement, which were born in him, just 
like the musical tones of his voice, could not be 
repressed. There was no recurrence of the diffi- 
dence of Exeter. His native genius led him irre- 
sistibly along the inevitable path. He loved to 
speak, to hold the attention of a listening audience. 
He practised off-hand speaking, but he more com- 
monly prepared himself by meditating on his sub- 
ject and making notes, which, however, he never 
used. He would enter the class-room or debating 
society and begin in a low voice and almost sleepy 
manner, and would then gradually rouse himself 
like a lion, and pour forth his words until he had 
his hearers completely under his control, and glow- 
ing with enthusiasm. 

We see too, at this time, the first evidence of 
that other great gift of bountiful nature in his 
commanding presence. He was then tall and thin, 
with high cheek bones and dark skin, but he was 
still impressive. The boys about him never for- 
got the look of his deep-set eyes, or the sound of 
the solemn tones of his voice, his dignity of mien, 
and his absorption in his subject. Above all they 
were conscious of something indefinable which 
conveyed a sense of greatness. It is not usual to 



20 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dwell so much upon mere physical attributes and 
appearance, but we must recur to them again and 
again, for Mr. Webster's personal presence was 
one of the great elements of his success ; it was 
the fit companion and even a part of his genius, 
and was the cause of his influence, and of the won- 
der and admiration which followed him, as much 
almost as anything he ever said or did. 

To Mr. Webster's college career belong the first 
fruits of his intellect. He edited, during one year, 
a small weekly journal, and thus eked out his slen- 
der means. Besides his strictly editorial labors, 
he printed some short pieces of his own, which 
have vanished, and he also indulged in poetical 
effusions, which he was fond of sending to absent 
friends. His rhymes are without any especial 
character, neither much better nor much worse 
than most college verses, and they have no in- 
trinsic value beyond showing that their author, 
whatever else he might be, was no poet. But in 
his own field something of this time, having a 
real importance, has come down to us. The fame 
of his youthful eloquence, so far beyond anything 
ever known in the college, was noised abroad, and 
in the year 1800 the citizens of Hanover, the col- 
lege town, asked him to deliver the Fourth of July 
oration. In this production, which was thought of 
sufficient merit to deserve printing, Mr. Webster 
sketched rapidly and exultingly the course of the 
Revolution, threw in a little Federal politics, and 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



21 



eulogized the happy system of the new Constitu- 
tion. Of this and his other early orations he al- 
ways spoke with a good deal of contempt, as ex- 
amples of bad taste, which he wished to have 
buried and forgotten. Accordingly his wholesale 
admirers and supporters who have done most of 
the writing about him, and who always sneezed 
when Mr. Webster took snuff, have echoed his 
opinions about these youthful productions, and 
beyond allowing to them the value which every- 
thing Websterian has for the ardent worshipper, 
have been disposed to hurry them over as of no 
moment. Compared to the reply to Hayne or the 
Plymouth oration, the Hanover speech is, of 
course, a poor and trivial thing. Considered, as 
it ought to be, by itself and in itself, it is not only 
of great interest as Mr. Webster's first utterance 
on public questions, but it is something of which 
he had no cause to feel ashamed. The sentiments 
are honest, elevated, and manly, and the political 
doctrine is sound. Mr. Webster was then a boy 
of eighteen, and he therefore took his politics from 
his father and his father's friends. For the same 
reason he was imitative in style and mode of 
thought. All boys of that age, whether geniuses 
or not, are imitative, and Mr. Webster, who was 
never profoundly original in thought, was no ex- 
ception to the rule. He used the style of the 
eighteenth century, then in its decadence, and 
Very florid, inflated, and heavy it was. Yet his 



22 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



work was far better and his style simpler and 
more direct than that which was in fashion. He 
indulged in a good deal of patriotic glorification. 
We smile at his boyish Federalism describing Na- 
poleon as " the gasconading pilgrim of Egypt," 
and Columbia as " seated in the forum of nations, 
and the empires of the world amazed at the bright 
effulgence of her glory." These sentences are the 
acme of fine writing, very boyish and very poor; 
but they are not fair examples of the whole, which 
is much simpler and more direct than might have 
been expected. Moreover, the thought is the 
really important thing. We see plainly that the 
speaker belongs to the new era and the new 
generation of national measures and nationally- 
minded men. There is no colonialism about him. 
He is in full sympathy with the Washingtonian 
policy of independence in our foreign relations 
and of complete separation from the affairs of 
Europe. But the main theme and the moving 
spirit of this oration are most important of all. 
The boy Webster preached love of country, the 
grandeur of American nationality, fidelity to the 
Constitution as the bulwark of nationality, and 
the necessity and the nobility of the union of the 
States ; and that was the message which the man 
Webster delivered to his fellow-men. The endur- 
ing work which Mr. Webster did in the world, 
and his meaning and influence in American his- 
tory, are all summed up in the principles enun* 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



28 



ciated in that boyish speech at Hanover. The 
statement of the great principles was improved 
and developed until it towered above this first ex- 
pression as Mont Blanc does above the village nes- 
tled at its foot, but the essential substance never 
altered in the least. 

Two other college orations have been preserved* 
One is a eulogy on a classmate who died before 
finishing his course, the other is a discourse on 
" Opinion," delivered before the society of the 
" United Fraternity." There is nothing of es- 
pecial moment in the thought of either, and the 
improvement in style over the Hanover speech, 
though noticeable, is not very marked. In the 
letters of that period, however, amid the jokes 
and fun, we see that Mr. Webster was already 
following his natural bent, and turning his at- 
tention to politics. He manifests the same spirit 
as in his oration, and shows occasionally an un- 
usual maturity of judgment. His criticism of 
Hamilton's famous letter to Adams, to take the 
most striking instance, is both keen and sound. 

After taking his degree in due course in 1801, 
Mr. Webster returned to his native village, and 
entered the office of a lawyer next door to his 
father's house, where he began the study of the 
law in compliance with his father's wish, but 
without any very strong inclination of his own. 
Here he read some law and more English literature, 
and passed a good deal of time in fishing and shoot- 



24 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ing. Before the year was out, however, he was 
obliged to drop his legal studies and accept the post 
of schoolmaster in the little town of Fryeburg. 
Maine. 

This change was due to an important event ii* 
the Webster family which had occurred some time 
before. The affection existing between Daniel 
and his elder brother Ezekiel was peculiarly strong 
and deep. The younger and more fortunate son, 
once started in his education, and knowing the de- 
sire of his elder brother for the same advantages, 
longed to obtain them for him. One night in va- 
cation, after Daniel had been two years at Dart- 
mouth, the two brothers discussed at length the 
all-important question. The next day, Daniel 
broached the matter to his father. The judge 
was taken by surprise. He was laboring already 
under heavy pecuniary burdens caused by the 
expenses of Daniel's education. The farm was 
heavily mortgaged, and Ebenezer Webster knew 
that he was old before his time and not destined 
to many more years of life. With the perfect and 
self-sacrificing courage which he .always showed, 
he did not shrink from this new demand, although 
Ezekiel was the prop and mainstay of the house. 
He did not think for a moment of himself, yet, 
while he gave his consent, he made it conditional 
on that of the mother and daughters whom he felt 
he was soon to leave. But Mrs. Webster had the 
same spirit as her husband. She was ready to sell 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



25 



the farm, to give up everything for the boys, pro- 
vided they would promise to care in the future for 
her and their sisters. More utter self-abnegation 
and more cheerful and devoted self-sacrifice have 
rarely been exhibited, and it was all done with a 
simplicity which commands our reverence. It 
was more than should have been asked, and a boy 
less accustomed than Daniel Webster to the devo- 
tion of others, even with the incentive of broth- 
erly love, might have shrunk from making th& 
request. The promise of future support was easily 
made, but the hard pinch of immediate sacrifice 
had to be borne at once. The devoted famity gave 
themselves up to the struggle to secure an educa- 
tion for the two boys, and for years they did battle 
with debt and the pressure of poverty. Ezekiel 
began his studies and entered college the year 
Daniel graduated ; but the resources were run- 
ning low, so low that the law had to be abandoned 
and money earned without delay ; and hence the 
schoolmastership. 

At no time in his life does Mr. Webster's char- 
acter appear in a fairer or more lovable light 
than during this winter at Fryeburg. He took 
his own share in the sacrifices he had done so 
much to entail, and he carried it cheerfully. Out 
of school hours he copied endless deeds, an occu- 
pation which he loathed above all others, in order 
that he might give all his salary to his brother. 
The burden and heat of the day in this struggle 



26 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



for education fell chiefly on the elder brother in 
the years which followed ; but here Daniel did his 
full part, and deserves the credit for it. 

He was a successful teacher. His perfect dig- 
nity, his even temper, and imperturbable equa- 
nimity made his pupils like and respect him. The 
survivors, in their old age, recalled the impression 
he made upon them, and especially remembered 
the solemn tones of his voice at morning and even- 
ing prayer, extemporaneous exercises which he 
scrupulously maintained. His letters at this time 
are like those of his college days, full of fun and 
good humor and kind feeling. He had his early 
love affairs, but was saved from matrimony by the 
liberality of his affections, which were not con- 
fined to a single object. He laughs pleasantly 
and good-naturedly over his fortunes with the fair 
sex, and talks a good deal about them, but his first 
loves do not seem to have been very deep or last- 
ing. Wherever he went, he produced an impres- 
sion on all who saw him. In Fryeburg it was his 
eyes which people seem to have remembered best. 
He was still very thin in face and figure, and he 
tells us himself that he was known in the village 
as " All-eyes ; " and one of the boys, a friend of 
later years, refers to Mr. Webster's " full, steady, 
large, and searching eyes." There never was a 
time in his life when those who saw him did not 
afterwards speak of his looks, generally either of 
the wonderful eyes or the imposing presence. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



27 



There was a circulating library in Fryeburg, 
and this he read through in his usual rapacious 
and retentive fashion. Here, too, he was called on 
for a Fourth of July oration. This speech, which 
has been recently printed, dwells much on the 
Constitution and the need of adhering to it in its 
entirety. There is a distinct improvement in his 
style in the direction of simplicity, but there is no 
marked advance in thought or power of expression 
over the Hanover oration. Two months after de- 
livering this address he returned to Salisbury and 
resumed the study of the law in Mr. Thompson's 
office. He now plunged more deeply into law 
books, and began to work at the law with zeal, 
while at the same time he read much and thor- 
oughly in the best Latin authors. In the months 
which ensued his mind expanded, and ambition 
began to rise within him. His horizon was a lim- 
ited one ; the practice of his profession, as he saw it 
carried on about him, was small and petty ; but his 
mind could not be shackled. He saw the lions in 
the path plainly, but he also perceived the great op- 
portunities which the law was to offer in the United 
States, and he prophesied that we, too, should soon 
have our Mansfields and Kenyons. The hand of 
poverty was heavy upon him, and he was chafing 
and beating his wings against the iron bars with 
which circumstances had imprisoned him. He 
longed for a wider field, and eagerly desired to 
finish his studies in Boston, but saw no way to get 
there, except by a "miracle." 



28 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



This miracle came through Ezekiel, who had 
been doing more for himself and his family thar, 
any one else, but who, after three years in college, 
was at the end of his resources, and had taken, in 
his turn, to keeping school. Daniel went to Boston, 
and there obtained a good private school for his 
brother. The salary thus earned by Ezekiel was 
not only sufficient for himself, but enabled Daniel 
to gratify the cherished wish of his heart, and 
come to the New England capital to conclude his 
professional studies. 

The first thing to be done was to gain admit- 
tance to some good office. Mr. Webster was lucky 
enough to obtain an introduction to Mr. Gore, 
with whom, as with the rest of the world, that 
wonderful look and manner, apparent even then, 
through boyishness and rusticity, stood him in 
good stead. Mr. Gore questioned him, trusted 
him, and told him to hang up his hat, begin work 
as clerk at once, and write to New Hampshire for 
his credentials. The position thus obtained was 
one of fortune's best gifts to Mr. Webster. It not 
only gave him an opportunity for a wide study of 
the law under wise supervision, but it brought 
him into daily contact with a trained barrister and 
an experienced public man. Christopher Gore, 
one of the most eminent members of the Boston 
bar and a distinguished statesman, had just re- 
turned from England, whither he had been sent 
as one of the commissioners appointed under the 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



29 



Jay treaty. He was a fine type of the aristocratic 
Federalist leader, one of the most prominent of 
that little group which from the " headquarters 
of good principles" in Boston so long controlled 
the politics of Massachusetts. He was a scholar, 
gentleman, and man of the world, and his portrait 
shows us a refined, high-bred face, suggesting a 
French marquis of the eighteenth century rather 
than the son of a New England sea-captain. A 
few years later, Mr. Gore was chosen governor of 
Massachusetts, and defeated when a candidate for 
reelection largely, it is supposed, because he rode 
in a coach and four (to which rumor added out- 
riders) whenever he went to his estate at Wal- 
tham. This mode of travel offended the sensi- 
bilities of his democratic constituents, but did 
not prevent his being subsequently chosen to the 
Senate of the United States, where he served a 
term with much distinction. The society of such a 
man was invaluable to Mr. Webster at this time. 
It taught him many things which he could have 
learned in no other way, and appealed to that 
strong taste for everything dignified and refined 
which was so marked a trait of his disposition and 
habits. He saw now the real possibilities which 
he had dreamed of in his native village ; and while 
he studied law deeply and helped his brother with 
his school, he also studied men still more thor- 
oughly and curiously. The professional associates 
and friends of Mr. Gore were the leaders of the 



80 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Boston bar when it had many distinguished men 
whose names hold high places in the history of 
American law. Among them were Theophilus 
Parsons, Chief Justice of Massachusetts ; Samuel 
Dexter, the ablest of them all, fresh from service 
in Congress and the Senate and as Secretary of 
the Treasury ; Harrison Gray Otis, fluent and 
graceful as an orator ; James Sullivan, and Daniel 
Davis, the Solicitor-General. All these and many 
more Mr. Webster saw and watched, and he has 
left in his diary discriminating sketches of Parsons 
and Dexter, whom he greatly admired, and of Sul- 
livan, of whom he had a poor opinion profession^ 
ally. 

Towards the end of the year 1804, while Mr. 
Webster was thus pleasantly engaged in studying 
his profession, getting a glimpse of the world, and 
now and then earning a little money, an opening 
came to him which seemed to promise immediate 
and assured prosperity. The judges of his father's 
court of common pleas offered him the vacant 
clerkship, worth about fifteen hundred dollars an- 
nually. This was wealth to Mr. Webster. With 
this income he could relieve the family from debt, 
make his father's last years comfortable, and 
smooth Ezekiel's path to the bar. When, how- 
ever, he announced his good luck to Mr. Gore, and 
his intention of immediately going home to accept 
the position, that gentleman, to Mr. Webster's 
great surprise, strongly urged a contrary coursa 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 



31 



He pointed out the possible reduction of the sal- 
ary, the fact that the office depended on the favor 
of the judges, and, above all, that it led to nothing, 
and destroyed the chances of any really great ca- 
reer. This wise mentor said : " Go on and finish 
your studies. You are poor enough, but there are 
greater evils than poverty ; live on no man's favor ; 
what bread you do eat, let it be the bread of inde- 
pendence ; pursue your profession, make yourself 
useful to your friends and a little formidable to 
your enemies, and you have nothing to fear." Mr. 
Webster, always susceptible to outside influences, 
saw the wisdom of this advice, and accepted it. 
It would have been well if he had never swerved 
even by a hair's breadth from the high and sound 
principles which it inculcated. He acted then 
without delay. Going at once to Salisbury, he 
broke the news of his unlooked-for determination 
to his father, who was utterly amazed. Pride in 
his son's high spirit mingled somewhat with dis- 
appointment at the prospect of continued hard- 
ships ; but the brave old man accepted the decision 
with the Puritan stoicism which was so marked a 
trait in his character, and the matter ended there. 

Returning to Boston, Mr. Webster was admitted 
to the bar in March, 1805. Mr. Gore moved his 
admission, and, in the customary speech, prophe- 
sied his student's future eminence with a sure 
knowledge of the latent powers which had dic- 
tated his own advice in the matter of the clerk- 



32 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ship. Soon after this, Mr. Webster returned to 
New Hampshire and opened his office in the little 
town of Boscawen, in order that he might be near 
his father. Here he devoted himself assiduously 
to business and study for more than two years, 
working at his profession, and occasionally writing' 
articles for the " Boston Anthology." During this 
time he made his first appearance in court, his 
father being on the bench. He gathered together 
a practice worth five or six hundred a year, a very 
creditable sum for a young country practitioner, 
and won a reputation which made him known in 
the State. 

In April, 1806, after a noble, toiling, unselfish 
life of sixty-seven years, Ebenezer Webster died. 
Daniel assumed his father's debts, waited until 
Ezekiel was admitted to the bar, and then, trans- 
ferring his business to his brother, moved, in the 
autumn of 1807, to Portsmouth. This was the 
principal town of the State, and offered, therefore, 
the larger field which he felt he needed to give his 
talents sufficient scope. Thus the first period in 
his life closed, and he started out on the extended 
and distinguished career which lay before him. 
These early years had been years of hardship, but 
they were among the best of his life. Through 
great difficulties and by the self-sacrifice of his 
family, he had made his way to the threshold of 
the career for which he was so richly endowed. 
He had passed an unblemished youth ; he had led 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. \ 33 

a clean, honest, hard-working life ; he was simple, 
manly, affectionate. Poverty had been a misfor- 
tune, not because it had warped or soured him, for 
he smiled at it with cheerful philosophy, nor be- 
cause it had made him avaricious, for he never 
either then or at any time cared for money for its 
own sake, and nothing could chill the natural lav- 
ishness of his disposition. But poverty accus- 
tomed him to borrowing and to debt, and this was 
a misfortune to a man of Mr. Webster's temper- 
ament. In those early days he was anxious to 
pay his debts ; but they did not lie heavy upon 
him or carry a proper sense of responsibility, as 
they did to Ezekiel and to his father. He was 
deeply in debt ; his books, even, were bought with 
borrowed money, all which was natural and inev- 
itable ; but the trouble was that it never seems 
to have weighed upon him or been felt by him as 
of much importance. He was thus early brought 
into the habit of debt, and was led unconsciously 
to regard debts and borrowing as he did the sac- 
rifices of others, as the normal modes of existence. 
Such a condition was to be deplored, because it 
fostered an unfortunate tendency in his moral na- 
ture/ With this exception, Mr. Webster's early 
years present a bright picture, and one which any 
man had a right to regard with pride and affeo 
tion. 

a 



t 



CHAPTER II. 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, 

The occasion of Mr. Webster's first appearance 
in court has been the subject of varying tradi- 
tion. It is certain, however, that in the counties 
where he practised during his residence at Bos- 
cawen, he made an unusual and very profound 
impression. The effect then produced is described 
in homely phrase by one who knew him well. 
The reference is to a murder trial, in which Mr, 
Webster gained his first celebrity. 

" There was a man tried for his life, and the judges 
chose Webster to plead for him ; and, from what I can 
learn, he never has spoken better than he did there 
where he first began. He was a black, raven-haired 
fellow, with an eye as black as death's, and as heavy as 
a lion's, — that same heavy look, not sleepy, but as if 
he did n't care about anything that was going on about 
him or anything anywhere else. He didn't look as if 
he was thinking about anything, but as if he would think 
like a hurricane if he once got waked up to it. They 
say the lion looks so when he is quiet. . . . Webster 
would sometimes be engaged to argue a case just as it 
was coming to trial. That would set him to thinking. 
It would n't wrinkle his forehead, but made him rest> 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 35 



less. He would shift his feet about, and run his hand 
up over his forehead, through his Indian-black hair, and 
lift his upper lip and show his teeth, which were as 
white as a hound's." 

Of course the speech so admired then was in- 
finitely below what was done afterwards. The 
very next was probably better, for Mr. Webster 
grew steadily. This observer, however, tells us 
not what Mr. Webster said, but how he looked. 
It was the personal presence which dwelt with 
every one at this time. 

Thus with his wonderful leonine look and large, 
dark eyes, and with the growing fame which he 
had won, Mr. Webster betook himself to Ports- 
mouth. He had met some of the leading lawyers 
already, but now he was to be brought into direct 
and almost daily competition with them. At that 
period in New England there was a great rush of 
men of talent to the bar, then casting off its colo- 
nial fetters and emerging to an independent life. 
The pulpit had ceased to attract, as of old ; med- 
icine was in its infancy ; there were none of the 
other manifold pursuits of to-day, and politics 
did not offer a career apart. Outside of mercan- 
tile affairs, therefore, the intellectual forces of the 
old Puritan commonwealths, overflowing with life, 
and feeling the thrill of youthful independence 
and the confidence of rapid growth in business, 
wealth, and population, were concentrated in the 
law. Even in a small State like New Hampshire, 



36 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



presenting very limited opportunities, there was, 
relatively speaking, an extraordinary amount of 
ability among the members of the bar, notwith- 
standing the fact that they had but just escaped 
from the condition of colonists. Common sense 
was the divinity of both the courts and the profes- 
sion. The learning was not extensive or profound 9 
but practical knowledge, sound principles, and 
shrewd management were conspicuous. Jeremiah 
Smith, the Chief Justice, a man of humor and cul- 
tivation, was a well read and able judge ; George 
Sullivan was ready of speech and fertile in expe- 
dients ; and Parsons and Dexter of Massachusetts, 
both men of national reputation, appeared from 
time to time in the New Hampshire courts. 
Among the most eminent was William Plumer, 
then Senator, and afterwards Governor of the 
State, a well-trained, clear-headed, judicious man. 
He was one of Mr. Webster's early antagonists, 
and defeated him in their first encounter. Yet at 
the same time, although a leader of the bar and a 
United States Senator, he seems to have been op- 
pressed with a sense of responsibility and even of 
inequality by this* thin, black-eyed young lawyer 
from the back country. Mr. Plumer was a man of 
cool and excellent judgment, and he thought that 
Mr. Webster on this occasion was too excursive 
and declamatory. He also deemed him better 
fitted by mind and temperament for politics than 
for the law, an opinion fully justified in the future, 



LA W AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 37 



despite Mr. Webster's eminence at the bar. In 
another case, where they were opposed, Mr. Plumer 
quoted a passage from Peake's " Law of Evidence." 
Mr. Webster criticised the citation as bad law, 
pronounced the book a miserable two-penny com- 
pilation, and then, throwing it down with a fine 
disdain, said, " So much for Mr. Thomas Peake's 
compendium of the 6 Law of Evidence.' " Such 
was his manner that every one present appeared 
to think the point settled, and felt rather ashamed 
of ever having heard of Mr. Peake or his unfor- 
tunate book. Thereupon Mr. Plumer produced a 
volume of reports by which it appeared that the 
despised passage was taken word for word from 
one of Lord Mansfield's decisions. The wretched 
Peake's character was rehabilitated, and Mr. 
Webster silenced. This was an illustration of a 
failing of Mr. Webster at that time. He was 
rough and unceremonious, and even overbearing, 
both to court and bar, the natural result of a new 
sense of power in an inexperienced man. This 
harshness of manner, however, soon disappeared. 
He learned rapidly to practise the stately and 
solemn courtesy which distinguished him through 
life. 

There was one lawyer, however, at the head of 
his profession in New Hampshire, who had more 
effect upon Mr. Webster than any other whom he 
ever met there or elsewhere. This was the man 
to whom the Shaker said: " By thy size and thy 



/ 



38 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

language 1 I judge that thou art Jeremiah Mason." 
Mr. Mason was one of the greatest common-law- 
yers this country has ever produced. Keen and 
penetrating in intellect, he was master of a re- 
lentless logic and of a style which, though simple 
and homely, was clear and correct to the last 
point. Slow and deliberate in his movements, 
and sententious in his utterances, he dealt so pow- 
erfully with evidence and so lucidly with princi- 
ples of law that he rarely failed to carry convic- 
tion to his hearers. He was particularly renowned 
for his success in getting verdicts. Many years 
afterwards Mr. Webster gave it as his deliberate 
opinion that he had never met with a stronger in- 
tellect, a mind of more native resources or quicker 
and deeper vision than were possessed by Mr. 
Mason, whom in mental reach and grasp and in 
closeness of reasoning he would not allow to be 
second even to Chief Justice Marshall. Mr. Ma- 
son on his side, with his usual sagacity, at once 
detected the great talents of Mr. Webster. In the 
first case where they were opposed, a murder trial, 
Mr. Webster took the place of the Attorney-Gen- 
eral for the prosecution. Mr. Mason, speaking of 
the impression made by his youthful and then un- 
known opponent, said : — 

" He broke upon me like a thunder shower in July, 

i Mr. Mason, as is well known, was six feet seven inches in height, 
and his language, always very forcible and direct, was, when he was 
irritated, if we may trust tradition, at times somewhat profane. 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 39 



sudden, portentous, sweeping all before it. It was the 
first case in which he appeared at our bar ; a criminal 
prosecution in which I had arranged a very pretty de- 
fence, as against the Attorney-General, Atkinson, who 
was able enough in his way, but whom I knew very 
well how to take. Atkinson being absent, Webster 
conducted the case for him, and turned, in the most 
masterly manner, the line of my defences, carrying with 
him all but one of the jurors, so that I barely saved my 
client by my best exertions. I was never more surprised 
than by this remarkable exhibition of unexpected power. 
It surpassed, in some respects, anything which I have 
ever since seen even in him." 

With all his admiration for his young antago- 
nist, however, one cannot help noticing that the 
generous and modest but astute counsel for the 
defence ended by winning his case. 

Fortune showered many favors upon Mr. Web- 
ster, but none more valuable than that of having 
Jeremiah Mason as his chief opponent at the New 
Hampshire bar. Mr. Mason had no spark of envy 
in his composition. He not only regarded with 
pleasure the great abilities of Mr. Webster, but 
he watched with kindly interest the rapid rise 
which soon made this stranger from the country 
his principal competitor and the champion com- 
monly chosen to meet him in the courts. He gave 
Mr. Webster his friendship, staunch and unvary* 
ing, until his death ; he gave freely also of his wis- 
dom and experience in advice and counsel. Best 



40 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



of all was the opportunity of instruction and dis< 
cipline which Mr. Webster gained by repeated 
contests with such a man. The strong qualities of 
Mr. Webster's mind rapidly developed by constant 
practice and under such influences. He showed 
more and more in every case his wonderful in- 
stinct for seizing on the very heart of a question, 
and for extricating the essential points from the 
midst of confused details and clashing arguments. 
He displayed, too, more strongly every day his 
capacity for close, logical reasoning and for telling 
retort, backed by a passion and energy none the 
less effective from being but slowly called into 
activity. In a word, the unequalled power of stat- 
ing facts or principles, which was the predomi- 
nant quality of Mr. Webster's genius, grew stead- 
ily with a vigorous vitality while his eloquence 
developed in a similar striking fashion. Much of 
this growth and improvement was due to the sharp 
competition and bright example of Mr. Mason. 
But the best lesson that Mr. Webster learned from 
liis wary yet daring antagonist was in regard to 
style. When he saw Mr. Mason go close to the 
jury box, and in a plain style and conversational 
manner, force conviction upon his hearers, and 
carry off verdict after verdict, Mr. Webster felt 
as he had never done before the defects of his 
own modes of expression. His florid phrases 
looked rather mean, insincere, and tasteless, be- 
sides being weak and ineffective. From that time 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 41 

he began to study simplicity and directness, which 
ended in the perfection of a style unsurpassed in 
modern oratory. The years of Mr. Webster's pro- 
fessional life in Portsmouth under the tuition of 
Mr. Mason were of inestimable service to him. 

Early in this period, also, Mr. Webster gave up 
his bachelor existence, and made for himself a 
home. When he first appeared at church in 
Portsmouth the minister's daughter noted and re- 
membered his striking features and look, and re- 
garded him as one with great capacities for good 
or evil. But the interesting stranger was not des- 
tined to fall a victim to any of the young ladies of 
Portsmouth. In the spring of 1808 he slipped 
away from his new friends and returned to Salis- 
bury, where, in May, he was married. The bride 
he brought back to Portsmouth was Grace Fletcher, 
daughter of the minister of Hopkinton. Mr. Web- 
ster is said to have seen her first at church in Sal- 
isbury, whither she came on horseback in a tight- 
fitting black velvet dress, and looking, as he said, 
" like an angel." She was certainly a very lovely 
and charming woman, of delicate and refined sen- 
sibilities and bright and sympathetic mind. She 
was a devoted wife, the object of her husband's 
first and strongest love, and the mother of his 
children. It is very pleasant to look at Mr. Web- 
ster in his home during these early years of his 
married life. It was a happy, innocent, untroubled 
time. He was advancing in his profession, win- 



42 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ning fame and respect, earning a sufficient income, 
blessed in his domestic relations, and with his chil- 
dren growing up about him. He was social by na- 
ture, and very popular everywhere. Genial and 
affectionate in disposition, he attached everybody 
to him, and his hearty humor, love of mimicry, 
and fund of anecdote made him a delightful com- 
panion, and led Mr. Mason to say that the stage 
had lost a great actor in Webster. 

But while he was thus enjoying professional 
success and the contented happiness of his fireside, 
he was slowly but surely drifting into the current 
of politics, whither his genius led him, and which 
had for him an irresistible attraction. Mr. Web- 
ster took both his politics and his religion from 
his father, and does not appear to have questioned 
either. He had a peculiarly conservative cast of 
mind. In an age of revolution and scepticism he 
showed no trace of the questioning spirit which 
then prevailed. Even in his earliest years he was 
a firm believer in existing institutions, in what 
was fixed and established. He had a little of the 
disposition of Lord Thurlow, who, when asked by 
a dissenter why, being a notorious free-thinker, he 
so ardently supported the Established Church, re- 
plied : " I support the Church of England because 
it is established. Establish your religion, and I '11 
support that." But if Mr. Webster took his relig- 
ion and politics from his father in an unquestioning 
spirit, he accepted them in a mild form. He was 



41 

LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 43 



a liberal Federalist because lie had a wide mental 
vision, and by nature took broad views of every- 
thing. His father, on the other hand, was a rigid, 
intolerant Federalist of a thorough-going Puritan 
type. Being taken ill once in a town of Demo- 
cratic proclivities, he begged to be carried home. 
" I was born a Federalist," he said, " I have lived 
a Federalist, and I won't die in a Democratic 
town." In the same way Ezekiel Webster's un- 
compromising Federalism shut him out from po- 
iitical preferment, and he would never modify his 
principles one jot in order to gain the seat in 
Congress which he might easily have obtained by 
slight concessions. The broad and liberal spirit 
of Daniel Webster rose superior to the rigid and 
even narrow opinions of his father and brother, 
but perhaps it would have been better for him if 
he had had in addition to his splendid mind the 
stern, unbending force of character which made 
his father and brother stand by their principles 
with immovable Puritan determination. Liberal 
as he was, however, in his political opinions, the 
same conservative spirit which led him to adopt 
his creed made him sustain it faithfully and con- 
stantly when he had once accepted it. He was a 
steady and trusted party man, although neither 
then nor at any time a blind, unreasoning par- 
tisan. 

Mr. Webster came forward gradually as a polit- 
ical leader by occasional addresses and speeches, at 



44 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



first with long intervals between them, and then 
becoming more frequent, until at last he found 
himself fairly engaged in a public career. In 1804, 
at the request of some of his father's friends, he 
published a pamphlet, entitled, " An Appeal to 
Old Whigs," in the interest of Gilman, the Federal 
candidate for governor. He seems to have had a 
very poor opinion of this performance, and his in- 
terest in the success of the party at that juncture 
was very slight. In 1805 he delivered a Fourth 
of July oration at Salisbury, which has not been 
preserved; and in the following year he gave an- 
other before the " Federal gentlemen " of Concord, 
which was published. The tone of this speech is 
not very partisan, nor does it exhibit the bitter 
spirit of the Federalists, although he attacked 
the administration, was violent in urging the pro- 
tection of commerce, and was extremely savage in 
his remarks about France. At times the style is 
forcible, and even rich, but, as a rule, it is still 
strained and artificial. The oration begins eagerly 
with an appeal for the Constitution and the 
Republic, the ideas always uppermost in Mr. 
Webster's mind. As a whole, it shows a distinct 
improvement in form, but there are no marks 
of genius to raise it above the ordinary level of 
Fourth of July speeches. His next production 
was a little pamphlet, published in 1808, on the 
embargo, which was then paralyzing New Eng- 
land, and crushing out her prosperity. This essay 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 45 



is important because it is the first clear instance 
of that wonderful faculty which Mr. Webster had 
of seizing on the vital point of a subject, and 
bringing it out in such a way that everybody 
could see and understand it. In this case the point 
was the distinction between a temporary embargo 
and one of unlimited duration. Mr. Webster 
contended that the latter was unconstitutional. 
The great mischief of the embargo was in Jeffer- 
son's concealed intention that it should be unlim- 
ited in point of time, a piece of recklessness and 
deceit never fully appreciated until it had all 
passed into history. This Mr. Webster detected 
and brought out as the most illegal and dangerous 
feature of the measure, while he also discussed the 
general policy in its fullest extent. In 1809 he 
spoke before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, upon 
" The State of our Literature," an address without 
especial interest except as showing a very marked 
improvement in style, due, no doubt, to the influ- 
ence of Mr. Mason. 

During the next three years Mr. Webster was 
completely absorbed in the practice of his profes- 
sion, and not until the declaration of war with 
England had stirred and agitated the whole coun- 
try did he again come before the public. The 
occasion of his reappearance was the Fourth of 
July celebration in 1812, when he addressed the 
Washington Benevolent Society at Portsmouth. 
The speech was a strong, calm statement of the 



46 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



grounds of opposition to the war. He showed 
that " maritime defence, commercial regulations, 
and national revenue " were the very corner-stones 
of the Constitution, and that these great interests 
had been crippled and abused by the departure 
from Washington's policy. He developed, with 
great force, the principal and the most unanswer- 
able argument of his party, that the navy had been 
neglected and decried because it was a Federalist 
scheme, when a navy was what we wanted above 
all things, and especially when we were drifting 
into a maritime conflict. He argued strongly in 
favor of a naval war, and measures of naval de- 
fence, instead of wasting our resources by an in- 
vasion of Canada. So far he went strictly with 
his party, merely invigorating and enforcing their 
well-known principles. But when he came to de- 
fining the proper limits of opposition to the war 
he modified very essentially the course prescribed 
by advanced Federalist opinions. The majority 
of that party in New England were prepared to go 
to the very edge of the narrow legal line which 
divides constitutional opposition from treasonable 
resistance. They were violent, bitter, and un- 
compromising in their language and purposes. 
From this Mr. Webster was saved by his breadth 
of view, his clear perceptions, and his intense 
national feeling. He says on this point : — 

" With respect to the war in which we are now in- 
volved, the course which our principles require us to 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 47 



pursue cannot be doubtful. It is now the law of the 
land, and as such we are bound to regard it. Resist- 
ance and insurrection form no part of our creed. The 
disciples of Washington are neither tyrants in power nor 
rebels out. If we are taxed to carry on this war we 
shall disregard certain distinguished examples and shall 
pay. If our personal services are required we shall 
yield them to the precise extent of our constitutional 
liability. At the same time the world may be assured 
that we know our rights and shall exercise them. We 
shall express our opinions on this, as on every measure 
of the government, — I trust without passion, I am cer- 
tain without fear. By the exercise of our constitutional 
right of suffrage, by the peaceable remedy of election, 
we shall seek to restore wisdom to our councils, and 
peace to our country." 

This was a sensible and patriotic opposition. 
It represented the views of the moderate Fed- 
eralists, and traced the lines which Mr. Webster 
consistently followed during the first years of his 
public life. The address concluded by pointing 
out the French trickery which had provoked the 
war, and by denouncing an alliance with French 
despotism and ambition. 

This oration was printed, and ran at once 
through two editions. It led to the selection of 
Mr. Webster as a delegate to an assembly of the 
people of the county of Rockingham, a sort of 
mass convention, held in August, 1812. There 
he was placed on the committee to prepare the 
address, and was chosen to write their report, 



48 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



which was adopted and published. This im- 
portant document, widely known at the time as 
the " Rockingham Memorial, 95 was a careful argu- 
ment against the war, and a vigorous and able 
presentation of the Federalist views. It was 
addressed to the President, whom it treated with 
respectful severity. With much skill it turned 
Mr. Madison's own arguments against himself, 
and appealed to public opinion by its clear and 
convincing reasoning. In one point the memorial 
differed curiously from the oration of a month 
before. The latter pointed to the suffrage as the 
mode of redress ; the former distinctly hinted at 
and almost threatened secession even while it de- 
plored a dissolution of the Union as a possible 
result of the administration's policy. In the one 
case Mr. Webster was expressing his own views, 
in the other he was giving utterance to the opin- 
ions of the members of his party among whom 
he stood. This little incident shows the suscepti- 
bility to outside influences which formed such an 
odd trait in the character of a man so imperious by 
nature. When acting alone, he spoke his own 
opinions. When in a situation where public opin- 
ion was concentrated against him, he submitted 
to modifications of his views with a curious and 
indolent indifference. 

The immediate result to Mr. Webster of the 
ability and tact which he displayed at the Rocking- 
ham Convention was his election to the thirteenth 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 49 

Congress, where he took his seat in May, 1813. 
There were then many able men in the House. 
Mr. Clay was Speaker, and on the floor were 
John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves and William 
Lowndes of South Carolina, Forsyth and Troup of 
Georgia, Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, Grundy of 
Tennessee, and McLean of Ohio, all conspicuous 
in the young nationalist war party. Macon and 
Eppes were representatives of the old Jeffersonian 
Republicans, while the Federalists were strong in 
the possession of such leaders as Pickering of 
Massachusetts, Pitkin of Connecticut, Grosvenor 
and Benson of New York, Hanson of Maryland, 
and William Gaston of North Carolina. It was a 
House in which any one might have been glad to 
win distinction. That Mr. Webster was consid- 
ered, at the outset, to be a man of great promise 
is shown by the fact that he was placed on the 
Committee on Foreign Relations, of which Mr. 
Calhoun was the head, and which, in the war 
time, was the most important committee of the 
House. 

Mr. Webster's first act was a characteristic one. 

Early in June he introduced a set of resolutions 

calling upon the President for information as to 

the time and mode in which the repeal of the 

French decrees had been communicated to our 

government. His unerring sagacity in singling 

out the weak point in his enemy's armor and in 

choosing his own keenest weapon, was never bet- 
x 



50 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ter illustrated than on this occasion. We know 
now that in the negotiations for the repeal of the 
decrees, the French government tricked us into 
war with England by most profligate lying. It 
was apparent then that there was something 
wrong, and that either our government had been 
deceived, or had withheld the publication of the 
repealing decree until war was declared, so that 
England might not have a pretext for rescinding 
the obnoxious orders. Either horn of the dilemma, 
therefore, was disagreeable to the administration, 
and a disclosure could hardly fail to benefit the 
Federalists. Mr. Webster supported his resolu- 
tions with a terse and simple speech of explanation, 
so far as we can judge from the meagre abstract 
which has come down to us. The resolutions, 
however, were a firebrand, and lighted up an angry 
and protracted debate, but the ruling party, as Mr: 
Webster probably foresaw, did not dare to vote 
them down, and they passed by large majorities. 
Mr. Webster spoke but once, and then very briefly, 
during the progress of the debate, and soon after 
returned to New Hampshire. With the exception 
of these resolutions, he took no active part what- 
ever in the business of the House beyond voting 
steadily with his party, a fact of which we may 
be sure because he was always on the same side as 
that staunch old partisan, Timothy Pickering. 

After a summer passed in the performance of 
his professional duties, Mr. Webster returned te 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 51 



Washington. He was late in his coming, Con- 
gress having been in session nearly three weeks 
when he arrived to find that he had been dropped 
from the Committee on Foreign Relations. The 
dominant party probably discovered that he was 
a young man of rather too much promise and 
too formidable an opponent for such an important 
post. His resolutions had been answered at the 
previous session, after his departure, and the re- 
port, which consisted of a lame explanation of the 
main point, and an elaborate defence of the war, 
had been quietly laid aside. Mr. Webster desired 
debate on this subject, and succeeded in carrying a 
reference of the report to a committee of the whole, 
but his opponents prevented its ever coming to 
discussion. In the long session which ensued, Mr. 
Webster again took comparatively little part in 
general business, but he spoke oftener than before. 
He seems to have been reserving his strength and 
making sure of his ground. He defended the 
Federalists as the true friends of the navy, and he 
resisted with great power the extravagant attempt 
to extend martial law to all citizens suspected of 
treason. On January 14, 1814, he made a long 
and well reported speech against a bill to encour- 
age enlistments. This is the first example of the 
eloquence which Mr. Webster afterwards carried 
to such high perfection. Some of his subsequent 
speeches far surpass this one, but they differ from 
it in degree, not in kind. He was now master 



52 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



of the style at which he aimed. The vehicle was 
perfected and his natural talent gave that vehi- 
cle abundance of thought to be conveyed. The 
whole speech is simple in form, direct and forcible. 
It has the elasticity and vigor of great strength, 
and glows with eloquence in some passages. Here, 
too, we see for the first time that power of de- 
liberate and measured sarcasm which was destined 
to become in his hands such a formidable weapon. 
The florid rhetoric of the early days is utterly 
gone, and the thought comes to us in those short 
and pregnant sentences and in the choice and ef- 
fective words which were afterwards so typical 
of the speaker. The speech itself was a party 
speech and a presentation of party arguments. It 
offered nothing new, but the familiar principles 
had hardly ever been stated in such a striking and 
impressive fashion. Mr. Webster attacked the 
war policy and the conduct of the war, and advo- 
cated defensive warfare, a navy, and the abandon- 
ment of the restrictive laws that were ruining our 
commerce, which had been the main cause of the 
adoption of the Constitution. The conclusion of 
this speech is not far from the level of Mr. Web- 
ster's best work. It is too long for quotation, but 
a few sentences will show its quality : — 

" Give up your futile projects of invasion. Extinguish 
the fires that blaze on your inland frontier. Establish 
perfect safety and defence there by adequate force. Let 
every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in security. Stop 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 53 



the blood that flows from the veins of unarmed yeo- 
manry and women and children. Give to the living time 
to bury and lament their dead in the quietness of private 
sorrow. Having performed this work of beneficence 
and mercy on your inland border, turn, and look with 
the eye of justice and compassion on your vast popula- 
tion along the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your 
embargo. Take measures for that end before another 
sun sets. . . . Let it no longer be said that not one 
ship of force, built by your hands, yet floats upon the 
ocean. ... If then the war must be continued, go to 
the ocean. If you are seriously contendiug for mari- 
time rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights 
can be defended. Thither every indication of your for- 
tune points you. There the united wishes and exertions 
of the nation will go with you. Even our party divi- 
sions, acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's 
edge." 

Events soon forced the policy urged by Mr. 
Webster upon the administration, whose friends 
carried first a modification of the embargo, and 
before the close of the session introduced a bill 
for its total repeal. The difficult task of advo- 
cating this measure devolved upon Mr. Calhoun, 
who sustained his cause more ingeniously than in- 
genuously. He frankly admitted that restriction 
was a failure as a war measure, but he defended 
the repeal on the ground that the condition of 
affairs in Europe had changed since the restrictive 
policy was adopted. It had indeed changed since 
the embargo of 1807, but not since the imposition 



54 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



of that of 1813, which was the one under discus- 
sion. 

Mr. Calhoun laid himself open to most unmer- 
ciful retorts, which was his misfortune, not his 
fault, for the embargo had been utterly and hope- 
lessly wrong from the beginning. Mr. Webster, 
however, took full advantage of the opportunity 
thus presented. His opening congratulations are 
in his best vein of stately sarcasm, and are admira- 
bly put. He followed this up by a new argument 
of great force, showing the colonial spirit of the re- 
strictive policy. He also dwelt with fresh vigor 
on the identification with France necessitated by 
the restrictive laws, a reproach which stung Mr. 
Calhoun and his followers more than anything 
else. He then took up the embargo policy and 
tore it to pieces, — no very difficult undertaking, 
but well performed. The shifty and shifting pol- 
icy of the government was especially distasteful to 
Mr. Webster, with his lofty conception of consist- 
ent and steady statesmanship, a point which is 
well brought out in the following passage : — 

" In a commercial country, nothing can be more ob- 
jectionable than frequent and violent changes. The 
concerns of private business do not endure such rude 
shocks but with extreme inconvenience and great loss 
It would seem, however, that there is a class of politi- 
cians to whose taste all change is suited, to whom what- 
ever is unnatural seems wise, and all that is violent 
appears great. . . • The Embargo Act, the Non-lm« 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 55 

portation Act, and all the crowd of additions and sup- 
plements, together with all their garniture of messages, 
reports, and resolutions, are tumbling undistinguished 
into one common grave. But yesterday this policy had 
a thousand friends and supporters ; to-day it is fallen 
and prostrate, and few 6 so poor as to do it reverence.' 
Sir, a government which cannot administer the affairs of 
a nation without so frequent and such violent alterations 
in the ordinary occupations and pursuits of private life, 
has, in my opinion, little claim to the regard of the com- 
munity." 

All this is very characteristic of Mr. Webster's 
temperament in dealing with public affairs, and is 
a very good example of his power of dignified re- 
proach and condemnation. 

Mr. Calhoun had said at the close of his speech, 
that the repeal of the restrictive measures should 
not be allowed to affect the double duties which 
protected manufactures. Mr. Webster discussed 
this point at length, defining his own position, 
which was that of the New England Federalists, 
who believed in free trade as an abstract princi- 
ple, and considered protection only as an expedi- 
ent of which they wanted as little as possible. 
Mr. Webster set forth these views in his usual 
effective and lucid manner, but they can be con- 
sidered more fitly at the period when he dealt 
with the tariff as a leading issue of the day and of 
his own public life. 

Mr. Webster took no further action of inipor* 



56 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



tance at this session, not even participating in the 
great debate on the loan bill ; but, by the manner 
in which these two speeches were referred to and 
quoted in Congress for many days after they were 
delivered, we can perceive the depth of their first 
impression. I have dwelt upon them at length 
because they are not in the collected edition of 
his speeches, where they well deserve a place, 
and, still more, because they are the first exam- 
ples of his parliamentary eloquence which show 
his characteristic qualities and the action of his 
mind. Mr. Webster was a man of slow growth, 
not reaching his highest point until he was nearly 
fifty years of age, but these two speeches mark an 
advanced stage in his progress. The only fresh 
point that he made was when he declared that the 
embargo was colonial in spirit ; and this thought 
proceeded from the vital principle of Mr. Webster's 
public life, his intense love for nationality and 
union, which grew with his growth and strength- 
ened with his strength. In other respects, these 
speeches presented simply the arguments and opin- 
ions of his party. They fell upon the ear of Con- 
gress and the country with a new and ringing 
sound because they were stated so finely and with 
such simplicity. Certainly one of them, and prob- 
ably both, were delivered without any immediate 
preparation, but thej^ really had the preparation of 
years, and were the utterance of thoughts which had 
been garnered up by long meditation. He wisely 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAM F SHIRE. 57 



confined himself at this time to a subject which had 
been long before his mind, and upon which he had 
gathered all the essential points by observation 
and by a study of the multitude of speeches and 
essays with which the country had been deluged. 
These early speeches, like some of the best of 
his prime, although nominally unprepared, were 
poured forth from the overflowing resources which 
had been the fruit of months of reflection, and 
which had been stored up by an unyielding mem- 
ory. They had really been in preparation ever 
since the embargo pamphlet of 1808, and that was 
one reason for their ripeness and terseness, for 
their easy flow and condensed force. I have ex- 
amined with care the debates in that Congress. 
There were many able and experienced speakers 
on the floor. Mr. Clay, it is true, took no part, 
and early in the session went to Europe. But 
Mr. Calhoun led in debate, and there were many 
others second only to him. Among all the speeches, 
however, Mr. Webster's stand out in sharp relief. 
His utterances were as clear and direct as those 
ji Mr. Calhoun, but they had none of the South 
Carolinian's dryness. We can best judge of their 
merit and their effect by comparing them with 
those of his associates. They were not only forci- 
ble, but they were vivid also and full of life, and his 
words when he was roused fell like the blows of 
a hammer on an anvil. They lacked the polish and 
richness of his later efforts, but the force and power 



58 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



of statement and the purity of diction were all 
there, and men began to realize that one destined 
to great achievements had entered the field of 
American politics. 

This was very apparent when Mr. Webster came 
back to Washington for the extra session called in 
September, 1814. Although he had made previ- 
ously but two set speeches, and had taken compar 
atively little part in every-day debate, he was now 
acknowledged, after his few months of service, to 
be one of the foremost men in the House, and the 
strongest leader in his party. He differed some- 
what at this time from the prevailing sentiment of 
the Federalists in New England, for the guiding 
principle of his life, his love of nationality, over- 
rode all other influences. He discountenanced the 
measures which led to the Hartford Convention, 
and he helped to keep New Hampshire out of that 
movement; but it is an entire mistake to represent 
him as an independent Federalist at this period. 
The days of Mr. Webster's independent politics 
came later, when the Federalists had ceased to 
exist as a party and when no new ties had been 
formed. In the winter of 1814 and 1815, although, 
like many of the moderate Federalists, he disap- 
proved of the separatist movement in New Eng- 
land, on all other party questions he acted con- 
sistently with the straitest of the sect. Sensibly 
enough, he did not consider the convention at 
Hartford, although he had nothing to do witb 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 59 



it, either treasonable or seditious ; and yet, much 
as he disliked its supposed purposes, he did not 
hesitate, in a speech on the Enlistment Bill, to use 
them as a threat to deter the administration from 
war measures. This was a favorite Federalist 
practice, gloomily to point out at this time the 
gathering clouds of domestic strife, in order to 
turn the administration back from war, that poor 
frightened administration of Mr. Madison, which 
had for months been clutching frantically at every 
straw which seemed to promise a chance of peace. 

But although Mr. Webster went as steadily and 
even more strongly with his party in this session, 
he did more and better service than ever before, 
partly, perhaps, because on the questions which 
arose, his party was, in the main, entirely right. 
The strength of his party feeling is shown by his 
attitude in regard to the war taxes, upon which he 
made a quiet but effective speech. He took the 
ground that, as a member of the minority, he could 
not prevent the taxes nor stop hostilities, but he 
could protest against the war, its conduct, and its 
authors, by voting against the taxes. There is a 
nice question of political ethics here as to how far 
an opposition ought to go in time of national war 
and distress, but it is certainly impossible to give 
a more extreme expression to parliamentary oppo- 
sition than to refuse the supplies at a most critical 
moment in a severe conflict. To this last extreme 
of party opposition to the administration, Mr. 



60 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Webster went. It was as far as he could go and 
remain loyal to the Union. But there he stopped 
absolutely. With the next step, which went out- 
side the Union, and which his friends at home 
were considering, he would have nothing to do, 
and he would not countenance any separatist 
schemes. In the national Congress, however, he 
was prepared to advance as far as the boldest and 
bitterest in opposition, and he either voted against 
the war taxes or abstained from voting on them, 
in company with the strictest partisans of the 
Pickering type. 

There is no need to suppose from this that Mr. 
Webster had lost in the least the liberality or 
breadth of view which always characterized him. 
He was no narrower then than when he entered 
Congress, or than when he left it. He went with 
his party because he believed it to be right, — as 
at that moment it undoubtedly was. The party, 
however, was still extreme and bitter, as it had 
been for ten years, but Mr. Webster was neither. 
He went all lengths with his friends in Con- 
gress, but he did not share their intensity of feel- 
ing or their fierce hostility to individuals. The 
Federalists, for instance, as a rule had ceased to 
call upon Mr. Madison, but in such intolerance 
Mr. Webster declined to indulge. He was al- 
ways on good terms with the President and with 
all the hostile leaders. His opposition was extreme 
in principle, but not in manner ; it was vigorous 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 61 

and uncompromising, but also stately and dignified. 
It was part of his large and indolent nature to ac- 
cept much and question little ; to take the ideas 
most easy and natural to him, those of his friends 
and associates, 1 and of his native New England, 
without needless inquiry and investigation. It 
was part of the same nature, also, to hold liberal 
views after he had fairly taken sides, and never, by 
confounding individuals with principles and pur- 
poses, to import into politics the fiery, biting ele- 
ment of personal haired and malice. 

His position in the House once assured, we find 
Mr. Webster taking a much more active part in 
the daily debates than before. On these occa- 
sions we hear of his " deliberate, conversational " 
manner, another of the lessons learned from Mr. 
Mason when that gentleman, standing so close to 
the jury-box that he could have " laid his finger on 
the foreman's nose," as Mr. Webster said, chatted 
easily with each juryman, and won a succession 
of verdicts. But besides the daily debate, Mr. 
Webster spoke at length on several important oc- 
casions. This was the case with the Enlistment 
Bill, which involved a forced draft, including 
minors, and was deemed unconstitutional by the 
Federalists. Mr. Webster had " a hand," as he 
puts it, — a strong one, we may be sure, — in kill- 
ing "Mr. Monroe's conscription." 

The most important measure, however, with 
which Mr. Webster was called to deal, and to which 



62 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



he gave his best efforts, was the attempt to establish 
a national bank. There were three parties in the 
House on this question. The first represented the 
" old Republican " doctrines, and was opposed to 
any bank. The second represented the theories of 
Hamilton and the Federalists, and favored a bank 
with a reasonable capital, specie-paying, and free 
to decide about making loans to the government. 
The third body was composed of members of the 
national war-party, who were eager for a bank 
merely to help the government out of its appall- 
ing difficulties. They, therefore, favored an insti- 
tution of large capital, non-specie-paying, and 
obliged to make heavy loans to the government, 
which involved, of course, an irredeemable paper 
currency. In a word, there was the party of no 
bank, the party of a specie bank, and the party of 
a huge paper-money bank. The second of these 
parties, with which of course Mr. Webster acted, 
held the key of the situation. No bank could be 
established unless it was based on their princi- 
ples. The first bill, proposing a paper-money 
bank, originated in the House, and was killed 
there by a strong majority, Mr. Webster making 
a long speech against it which has not been pre- 
served. The next bill came from the Senate, and 
was also for a paper-money bank. Against this 
scheme Mr. Webster made a second elaborate 
speech, which is reprinted in his works. His 
genius for arranging and stating facts held its full 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 63 

strength in questions of finance, and he now es- 
tablished his reputation as a master in that diffi- 
cult department of statesmanship. His recent 
studies of economical questions in late English 
works and in English history gave freshness to 
what he said, and in clearness of argument, in 
range of view, and wisdom of judgment, he showed 
himself a worthy disciple of the school of Hamil- 
ton. His argument proceeded on the truest eco- 
nomical and commercial principles, and was, in- 
deed, unanswerable. He then took his stand as 
the foe of irredeemable paper, whether in war or 
peace, and of wild, unrestrained banking, a position 
from which he never wavered, and in support of 
which he rendered to the country some of his best 
service as a public man. The bill was defeated 
by the casting vote of the Speaker. When the 
result was announced, Mr. Calhoun was utterly 
overwhelmed. He cared little for the bank but 
deeply for the government, which, as it was not 
known that peace had been made, seemed to be 
on the verge of ruin. He came over to Mr. Web- 
ster, and, bursting into tears, begged the latter to 
aid in establishing a proper bank, a request which 
was freely granted. 

The vote was then reconsidered, the bill recom- 
mitted and brought back, with a reduced capital, 
and freed from the government power to force 
loans and suspend specie payments. This meas- 
ure was passed by a large majority, composed of 



64 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



the Federalists and the friends of the government, 
but it was the plan of the former which had pre- 
vailed. The President vetoed the bill for a vari- 
ety of reasons, duly stated, but really, as Mr. 
Webster said, because a sound bank of this sort 
was not in favor with the administration. An- 
other paper-money scheme was introduced, and 
the conflict began again, but was abruptly termi- 
nated by the news of peace, and on March 4 the 
thirteenth Congress came to an end. 

The fourteenth Congress, to which he had been 
reelected, Mr. Webster said many years afterward, 
was the most remarkable for talents of any he 
had ever seen. To the leaders of marked ability 
in the previous Congress, most of whom had 
been reelected, several others were added. Mr. 
Clay returned from Europe to take again an ac- 
tive part. Mr. Pinkney, the most eminent prac- 
tising lawyer in the country, recently Attorney- 
General and Minister to England, whom John 
Randolph, with characteristic insolence, " believed 
to be from Maryland," was there until his ap- 
pointment to the Russian mission. Last, but not 
least, there was John Randolph himself, wildly 
eccentric and venomously eloquent, — sometimes 
witty, always odd and amusing, talking incessantly 
on everything, so that the reporters gave him up 
in despair, and with whom Mr. Webster came to 
a definite understanding before the close of the 
session. 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 65 

Mr. Webster did not take his seat until Feb- 
ruary, being detained at the North by the illness 
of his daughter Grace. When he arrived he found 
Congress at work upon a bank bill possessing the 
same objectionable features of paper money and 
large capital as the former schemes which he had 
helped to overthrow. He began his attack upon 
this dangerous plan by considering the evil condi- 
tion of the currency. He showed that the cur- 
rency of the United States was sound because it 
was gold and silver, in his opinion the only con- 
stitutional medium, but that the country was 
flooded by the irredeemable paper of the state 
banks. Congress could not regulate the state 
banks, but they could force them to specie pay- 
ments by refusing to receive any notes which were 
not paid in specie by the bank which issued them. 
Passing to the proposed national bank, he reiter- 
ated the able arguments which he had made in 
the previous Congress against the large capital, 
the power to suspend specie payments, and the 
stock feature of the bank, which he thought would 
lead to speculation and control by the state banks. 
This last point is the first instance of that finan- 
cial foresight for which Mr. Webster was so re- 
markable, and which shows so plainly the sound- 
ness of his knowledge in regard to economical 
matters. A violent speculation in bank stock did 
ensue, and the first years of the new institution 
were troubled, disorderly, and anything but cred- 

5 



66 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



itable. The opposition of Mr. Webster and those 
who thought with him, resulted in the reduction 
of the capital and the removal of the power to 
suspend specie payments. But although shorn of 
its most obnoxious features, Mr. Webster voted 
against the bill on its final passage on account of the 
participation permitted to the government in its 
management. He was quite right, but, after the 
bank was well established, he supported it as Lord 
Thurlow promised to do in regard to the dissent- 
er's religion. Indeed, Mr. Webster ultimately 
so far lost his original dislike to this bank that 
he became one of its warmest adherents. The 
plan was defective, but the scheme, on the whole, 
worked better than had been expected. 

Immediately after the passage of the bank bill, 
Mr. Calhoun introduced a bill requiring the rev- 
enue to be collected in lawful money of the United 
States. A sharp debate ensued, and the bill was 
lost. Mr. Webster at once offered resolutions re- 
quiring all government dues to be paid in coin, 
in Treasury notes, or in notes of the Bank of the 
United States. He supported these resolutions, 
thus daringly put forward just after the princi- 
ple they involved had been voted down, in a speech 
of singular power, clear, convincing, and full of 
information and illustration. He elaborated the 
ideas contained in his previous remarks on the 
currency, displaying with great force the evils of 
irredeemable paper, and the absolute necessity of 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 67 

a sound currency based on specie payments. He 
won a signal victory by the passage of his resolu- 
tions, which brought about resumption, and, after 
the bank was firmly established, gave us a sound 
currency and a safe medium of exchange. This 
was one of the most conspicuous services ever 
rendered by Mr. Webster to the business interests 
and good government of the country, and he de- 
serves the full credit, for he triumphed where 
Mr. Calhoun had just been defeated. 

Mr. Webster took more or less part in all the 
questions which afterwards arose in the House, 
especially on the tariff, but his great efforts were 
those devoted to the bank and the currency. The 
only other incident of the session was an invitation 
to fight a duel sent him by John Randolph. This 
was the only challenge ever received by Mr. Web- 
ster. He never could have seemed a very happy 
subject for such missives, and, moreover, he never 
indulged in language calculated to provoke them. 
Randolph, however, would have challenged any- 
body or anything, from Henry Clay to a field- 
mouse, if the fancy happened to strike him. Mr. 
Webster's reply is a model of dignity and veiled 
contempt. He refused to admit Randolphs right 
to an explanation, alluded to that gentleman's 
lack of courtesy in the House, denied his right to 
call him out, and wound up by saying that he 
did not feel bound to risk his life at any one's 
bidding, but should " always be prepared to repel, 



68 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



in a suitable manner, the aggression of any man 
who may presume on this refusal." One cannot 
help smiling over this last clause, with its sugges- 
tion of personal violence, as the two men rise be- 
fore the fancy, — the big, swarthy black-haired 
son of the northern hills, with his robust com- 
mon sense, and the sallow, lean, sickly Virginia 
planter, not many degrees removed mentally from 
the patients in Bedlam. 

In the affairs of the next session of the four- 
teenth Congress Mr. Webster took scarcely any 
part. He voted for Mr. Calhoun's internal im- 
provement bill, although without entering the de- 
bate, and he also voted to pass the bill over Mr. 
Madison's veto. This was sound Hamiltonian 
Federalism, and in entire consonance with the na- 
tional sentiments of Mr. Webster. On the con- 
stitutional point, which he is said to have exam- 
ined with some care, he decided in accordance 
with the opinions of his party, and with the doc- 
trine of liberal construction, to which he always 
adhered. 

On March 4, 1817, the fourteenth Congress 
expired, and with it the term of Mr. Webster's 
service. Five years were to intervene before he 
again appeared in the arena of national politics. 
This retirement from active public life was due 
to professional reasons. In nine years Mr. Web- 
ster had attained to the very summit of his pro- 
fession in New Hampshire. He was earning two 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 69 



thousand dollars a year, and in that hardy and 
poor community he could not hope to earn more. 
To a man with such great and productive tal- 
ents, and with a growing family, a larger field 
had become an absolute necessity. In June, 1816, 
therefore, Mr. Webster removed from Portsmouth 
to Boston. That he gained by the change is ap- 
parent from the fact that the first year after his 
removal his professional income did not fall short 
of twenty thousand dollars. The first suggestion 
of the possibilities of wealth offered to his abili- 
ties in a suitable field came from his going to 
Washington. There, in the winter of 1813 and 
1814, he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, before which he tried 
two or three cases, and this opened the vista of a 
professional career, which he felt would give him 
verge and room enough, as well as fit remunera- 
tion. From this beginning the Supreme Court 
practice, which soon led to the removal to Boston, 
rapidly increased, until, in the last session of his 
term, it occupied most of his time. This with- 
drawal from the duties of Congress, however, was t 
not due to a sacrifice of his time to his profes- 
sional engagements, but to the depression caused 
by his first great grief, which must have rendered 
the noise and dust rf debate most distasteful to 
him. Mr. and Mrs. Webster had arrived in 
Washington for this last session, in December, 
1816, and were recalled to Boston by the illness 



70 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



of their little daughter Grace, who was their old- 
est child, singularly bright and precocious, with 
much of her father's look and talent, and of her 
mother's sensibility. She was a favorite with her 
father, and tenderly beloved by him. After her 
parents' return she sank rapidly, the victim of 
consumption. When the last hour was at hand, 
the child, rousing from sleep, asked for her father. 
He came, raised her upon his arm, and, as he did 
so, she smiled upon him and died. It is a little 
incident in the life of a great man, but a child's 
instinct does not err at such a moment, and her 
dying smile sheds a flood of soft light upon the 
deep and warm affections of Mr. Webster's sol- 
emn and reserved nature. It was the first great 
grief. Mr. Webster wept convulsively as he stood 
beside the dead, and those who saw that stately 
creature so wrung by anguish of the heart never 
forgot the sight. 

Thus the period which began at Portsmouth in 
1807 closed in Boston, in 1817, with the death of 
the eldest born. In that decade Mr. Webster had 
advanced with great strides from the position of 
a raw and youthful lawyer in a back country town 
of New Hampshire. He had reached the highest 
professional eminence in his own State, and had 
removed to a wider sphere, where he at once took 
rank with the best lawyers. He was a leading 
practitioner in the highest national court. During 
his two terms in Congress he had become a leader 



LAW AND POLITICS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 71 

of bis party, and had won a solid national reputa- 
tion. In those years he had rendered conspicuous 
service to the business interests of the nation, and 
had established himself as one of the ablest states- 
men of the country in matters of finance. He 
had defined his position on the tariff as a free- 
trader in theory and a very moderate protection- 
ist when protection was unavoidable, a true repre- 
sentative of the doctrine of the New England 
Federalists. He had taken up his ground as the 
champion of specie payments and of the liberal 
interpretation of the Constitution, which author- 
ized internal improvements. While he had not 
shrunk from extreme opposition to the adminis- 
tration during the war, he had kept himself en- 
tirely clear from the separatist sentiment of New 
England in the year 1814. He left Congress with 
a realizing sense of his own growing powers, and, 
rejoicing in his strength, he turned to his profes- 
sion and to his new duties in his new home. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. — MR. WEB- 
STER AS A LAWYER. 

There is a vague tradition that when Mr. 
Webster took up his residence in Boston, some of 
the worthies of that ancient Puritan town were 
disposed at first to treat him rather cavalierly and 
make him understand that because he was great 
in New Hampshire it did not follow that he was 
also great in Massachusetts. They found very 
quickly, however, that it was worse than useless 
to attempt anything of this sort with a man who, 
by his mere look and presence whenever he en- 
tered a room, drew all eyes to himself and hushed 
the murmur of conversation. It is certain that 
Mr. Webster soon found himself the friend and 
associate of all the agreeable and distinguished 
men of the town, and that he rapidly acquired that 
general popularity which, in those days, went with 
him everywhere. It is also certain that he at 
once and without effort assumed the highest posi- 
tion at the bar as the recognized equal of its most 
eminent leaders. With an income increased ten- 
fold and promising still further enlargement, a 
practice in which one fee probably surpassed the 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 73 



earnings of three months in New Hampshire, with 
an agreeable society about him, popular abroad, 
happy and beloved at home, nothing could have 
been more auspicious than these opening years of 
his life in Boston. 

The period upon which he then entered, and 
during which he withdrew from active public ser- 
vice to devote himself to his profession, was a 
very important one in his career. It was a period 
marked by a rapid intellectual growth and by the 
first exhibition of his talents on a large scale. It 
embraces, moreover, two events, landmarks in the 
life of Mr. Webster, which placed him before the 
country as one of the first and the most eloquent 
of her constitutional lawyers, and as the great 
master in the art of occasional oratory. The first 
of these events was the argument in the Dart- 
mouth College case ; the second was the delivery 
of the Plymouth oration. 

I do not propose to enter into or discuss the 
merits or demerits of the constitutional and legal 
theories and principles involved in the famous 
" college causes," or in any other of the great 
cases subsequently argued by Mr. Webster. In a 
biography of this kind it is sufficient to examine 
Mr. Webster's connection with the Dartmouth 
College case, and endeavor, by a study of his argu- 
ments in that and in certain other hardly less im- 
portant causes, to estimate properly the character 
and quality of his abilities as a Lawyer, both in 



74 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



the ordinary acceptation of the term and in deal- 
ing with constitutional questions. 

The complete history of the Dartmouth Col- 
lege case is very curious and deserves more than a 
passing notice. Until within three years it is not 
too much to say that it was quite unknown, and 
its condition is but little better now. In 1879 Mr. 
John M. Shirley published a volume entitled the 
" Dartmouth College Causes," which is a mon- 
ument of careful study and thorough research. 
Most persons would conclude that it was a work 
of merely legal interest, appealing to a limited 
class of professional readers. Even those into 
whose hands it chanced to come have probably 
been deterred from examining it as it deserves by 
the first chapter, which is very obscure, and by 
the confusion of the narrative which follows. Yet 
this monograph, which has so unfortunately suf- 
fered from a defective arrangement of material, is 
of very great value, not only to our legal and con- 
stitutional history, but to the political history of 
the time and to a knowledge of the distinguished 
actors in a series of events which resulted in the 
establishment of one of the most far-reaching of 
constitutional doctrines, one that has been a living 
question ever since the year 1819, and is at this 
moment of vast practical importance. Mr. Shir- 
ley has drawn forth from the oblivion of manu- 
script a collection of documents which, taken in 
conjunction with those already in print, throws a 



TEE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 75 



flood of light upon a dark place of the past and 
gives to a dry constitutional question the vital and 
human interest of political and personal history. 

In his early days, Eleazer Wheelock, the founder 
of Dartmouth College, had had much religious 
controversy with Dr. Bellamy of Connecticut, who 
was like himself a graduate of Yale. Wheelock 
was a Presbyterian and a liberal, Bellamy a Con- 
gregationalist and strictly orthodox. The charter 
of Dartmouth was free from any kind of religious 
discrimination. By his will the elder Wheelock 
provided in such a way that his son succeeded 
him in the presidency of the college. In 1793 
Judge Niles, a pupil of Bellamy, became a trustee 
of the college, and be and John Wheelock repre- 
sented the opposite views which they respectively 
inherited from tutor and father. They were 
formed for mutual hostility, and the contest be- 
gan some twelve years before it reached the pub- 
lic. The trustees and the president were then all 
Federalists, and there would seem to have been 
no differences of either a political or a religious 
nature. The trouble arose from the resistance of 
a minority of the trustees to what they termed 
the " family dynasty." Wheelock, however, main- 
tained his ascendency until 1809, when his ene- 
mies obtained a majority in the board of trustees, 
and thereafter admitted no friend of the president 
to the government, and used every effort to sub- 
due the dominant dynasty. 



76 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



In New Hampshire, at that period, the Federal- 
ists were the ruling party, and the Congregational- 
ists formed the state church. The people were, in 
practice, taxed to support Congregational churches, 
and the clergy of that denomination were ex- 
empted from taxation. All the Congregational 
ministers were stanch Federalists and most of 
their parishioners were of the same party. The 
college, the only seat of learning in the State, was 
one of the Federalist and Congregational strong- 
holds. 

After several years of fruitless and bitter con- 
flict, the Wheelock party, in 1815, brought their 
grievances before the public in an elaborate pam- 
phlet. This led to a rejoinder and a war of 
pamphlets ensued, which was soon transferred to 
the newspapers, and created a great sensation and 
a profound interest. Wheelock now contemplated 
legal proceedings. Mr. Plumer was in ill health, 
Judge Smith and Mr. Mason were allied with the 
trustees, and the president therefore went to Mr. 
Webster, consulted him professionally, paid him, 
and obtained a promise of his future services. 
About the time of this consultation, Wheelock 
sent a memorial to the Legislature, charging the 
trustees with misapplication of the funds, and va- 
rious breaches of trust, religious intolerance, and 
a violation of the charter in their attacks upon 
the presidential office, and prayed for a commit- 
tee of investigation. The trustees met him boldly 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 77 



and offered a sturdy resistance, denying all trie 
charges, especially that of religious intolerance ; 
but the committee was voted by a large majority. 
On August 5th, Wheelock, as soon as he learned 
that the committee was to have a hearing, wrote 
to Mr. Webster, reminding him of their consulta- 
tion, inclosing a fee of twenty dollars, and asking 
him to appear before the committee e Mr. Web- 
ster did not come, and Wheelock had to go on as 
best he could without him. One of Wheelock's 
friends, Mr. Dunham, wrote a very indignant let- 
ter to Mr. Webster on his failure to appear; to 
which Mr. Webster replied that he had seen 
Wheelock and they had contemplated a suit in 
court, but that at the time of the hearing he was 
otherwise engaged, and moreover that he did not 
regard a summons to appear before a legislative 
committee as a professional call, adding that he was 
by no means sure that the president was wholly 
in the right. The truth was, that many of Mr. 
Webster's strongest personal and political friends, 
and most of the leaders with whom he was associ- 
ated in the control of the Federalist party, were 
either trustees themselves or closely allied with 
the trustees. In the interval between the consul- 
tation with Wheelock and the committee hearing, 
these friends and leaders saw Mr. Webster, and 
pointed out to him that he must not desert them, 
and that this college controversy was fast develop- 
ing into a party question, Mr. Webster was con- 



78 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



vinced, and abandoned Wheelock, making, as has 
been seen, a very unsatisfactory explanation of his 
conduct. In this way he finally parted company 
with Wheelock, and was thereafter irrevocably 
engaged on the side of the trustees. 

Events now moved rapidly. The trustees, with- 
out heeding the advice of Mr. Mason to delay, 
removed Wheelock from the presidency, and ap- 
pointed in his place the Rev. Francis Brown. 
This fanned the flame of popular excitement, and 
such a defiance of the legislative committee threw 
the whole question into politics. As Mr. Mason 
had foreseen when he warned the trustees against 
hasty action, all the Democrats, all members of 
sects other than the Congregational, and all free- 
thinkers generally, were united against the trus- 
tees, and consequently against the Federalists. 
The election came on. Wheelock, who was a 
Federalist, went over to the enemy, carrying his 
friends with him, and Mr. Plumer, the Democratic 
candidate, was elected Governor, together with a 
Democratic Legislature. Mr. Webster perceived 
at once that the trustees were in a bad position. 
He advised that every effort should be made to 
soothe the Democrats, and that the purpose of 
founding a new college should be noised abroad, 
in order to create alarm. Strategy, however, was 
vain. Governor Plumer declared against the trus- 
tees in his message, and the Legislature in June, 
1816, despite every sort of protest and remon- 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 79 

strance, passed an act to reorganize the college, 
and virtually to place it within the control of the 
State. The Governor and council at once pro- 
ceeded to choose trustees and overseers under the 
new law, and among those thus selected was Jo- 
seph Story of Massachusetts. 

Both boards of trustees assembled. The old 
board turned out Judge Woodward, their secre- 
tary, who was a friend to Wheelock and secretary 
also of the new board, and, receiving a thousand 
dollars from a friend of one of the professors, re- 
solved to fight. President Brown refused to obey 
the summons of the new trustees, who expelled 
the old board by resolution. Thereupon the old 
board brought suit against Woodward for the col- 
lege seal and other property, and the case came 
on for trial in May, 1817. Mr. Mason and Judge 
Smith appeared for the college, George Sullivan 
and Ichabod Bartlett for Woodward and the state 
board. The case was argued and then went over 
to the September term of the same year, at Exe- 
ter, when Mason and Smith were joined by Mr. 
Webster. 

The cause was then argued again on both sides 
and with signal ability. In point of talent the 
counsel for the college were vastly superior to their 
opponents, but Sullivan and Bartlett were never- 
theless strong men and thoroughly prepared. Sul- 
livan was a good lawyer and a fluent and ready 
speaker, with great power of illustration. Bart- 



80 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



lett was a shrewd, hard-headed man, very keen 
and incisive, and one whom it was impossible to 
outwit or deceive. He indulged, in his argument, 
in some severe reflections upon Mr. Webster's 
conduct toward Wheelock, which so much incensed 
Mr. Webster that he referred to Mr. Bartlett's 
argument in a most contemptuous way, and stren- 
uously opposed the publication of the remarks 
c< personal or injurious to counsel." 

The weight of the argument for the college fell 
upon Mason and Smith, who spoke for two and 
four hours respectively. Sullivan and Bartlett 
occupied three hours, and the next day Mr. Web- 
ster closed for the plaintiffs in a speech of two 
hours. Mr. Webster spoke with great force, go- 
ing evidently beyond the limits of legal argument, 
and winding up with a splendid sentimental ap- 
peal which drew tears from the crowd in the Exe- 
ter court-room, and which he afterwards used in 
an elaborated form and with similar effect before 
the Supreme Court at Washington. 

It now becomes necessary to state briefly the 
points at issue in this case, which were all fully 
argued by the counsel on both sides. Mr. Ma- 
son's brief, which really covered the whole case, 
was that the acts of the Legislature were not ob- 
ligatory, 1, because they were not within the gen- 
eral scope of legislative power ; 2, because they 
violated certain provisions of the Constitution of 
New Hampshire restraining legislative power ; 3 % 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 81 

because they violated the Constitution of the 
United States. In Farrar's report of Mason's 
speech, twenty-three pages are devoted to the first 
point, eight to the second, and six to the third. 
In other words, the third point, involving the 
great constitutional doctrine on which the case was 
finally decided at Washington, the doctrine that 
the Legislature, by its acts, had impaired the ob- 
ligation of a contract, was passed over lightly. 
In so doing Mr. Mason was not alone. Neither he 
nor Judge Smith nor Mr. Webster nor the court 
nor the counsel on the other side, attached much 
importance to this point. Curiously enough, the 
theory had been originated many years before, by 
Wheelock himself, at a time when he expected 
that the minority of the trustees would invoke the 
aid of the Legislature against him, and his idea 
had been remembered. It was revived at the 
time of the newspaper controversy, and was 
pressed upon the attention of the trustees and 
upon that of their counsel. But the lawyers at- 
tached little weight to the suggestion, although 
they introduced it and argued it briefly. Mason, 
Smith, and Webster all relied for success on the 
ground covered by the first point in Mason's 
brief. This is called by Mr. Shirley the " Par- 
sons view," from the fact that it was largely 
drawn from an argument made by Chief Justice 
Parsons in regard to visitatorial powers at Har- 
vard College. Briefly stated, the argument was 

6 



82 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



that the college was an institution founded by pri- 
vate persons for particular uses ; that the charter 
was given to perpetuate such uses ; that miscon- 
duct of the trustees was a question for the courts, 
and that the Legislature, by its interference, 
transcended its powers. To these general prin- 
ciples, strengthened by particular clauses in the 
Constitution of New Hampshire, the counsel for 
the college trusted for victory. The theory of im- 
pairing the obligation of contracts they introduced, 
but they did not insist on it, or hope for much 
from it. On this point, however, and, of course, 
on this alone, the case went up to the Supreme 
Court. In December, 1817, Mr. Webster wrote 
to Mr. Mason, regretting that the case went up 
on "one point only." He occupied himself at 
this time in devising cases which should raise 
what he considered the really vital points, and 
which, coming within the jurisdiction of the 
United States, could be taken to the Circuit 
Court, and thence to the Supreme Court at Wash- 
ington. These cases, in accordance with his sug- 
gestion, were begun, but before they came on 
in the Circuit Court, Mr. Webster made his great 
effort in Washington. Three quarters of his le- 
gal argument were there devoted to the points 
in the Circuit Court cases, which were not in any 
way before the Supreme Court in the College 
vs. Woodward. So little, indeed, did Mr. Web- 
ster think of the great constitutional question 



1HE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 83 



which has made the case famous, that he forced 
the other points in where he admitted that they 
had no proper standing, and argued them at 
length. They were touched upon by Marshall, 
who, however, decided wholly upon the constitu- 
tional question, and they were all thrown aside 
by Judge Washington, who declared them irrele- 
vant, and rested his decision solely and properly 
on the constitutional point. Two months after his 
Washington argument, Mr. Webster, still urging 
forward the Circuit Court cases, wrote to Mr. 
Mason that all the questions must be brought 
properly before the Supreme Court, and that, on 
the " general principle " that the State Legisla- 
ture could not divest vested rights, strengthened 
by the constitutional provisions of New Hamp- 
shire, he was sure they could defeat their adver- 
saries. Thus this doctrine of "impairing the 
obligation of contracts," which produced a deci- 
sion in its effects more far-reaching and of more 
general interest than perhaps any other ever made 
in this country, was imported into the case at the 
suggestion of laymen, was little esteemed by coun- 
sel, and was comparatively neglected in every 
argument. 

It is necessary to go back now, for a moment, in 
the history of the case. The New Hampshire 
court decided against the plaintiffs on every point, 
and gave a very strong and elaborate judgment, 
which Mr. Webster acknowledged was " able* 



84 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



plausible, and ingenious." After much wrang- 
ling, the counsel agreed on a special verdict, and 
took the case up on a writ of error to the Supreme 
Court. Mason and Smith were unable or unwill- 
ing to go to Washington, and the case was in- 
trusted to Mr. Webster, who secured the assistance 
of Mr. Joseph Hopkinson of Philadelphia. The 
case for the State, hitherto ably managed, was now 
confided to Mr. John Holmes of Maine, and Mr. 
Wirt, the Attorney-General, who handled it very 
badly. Holmes, an active, fluent Democratic pol- 
itician, made a noisy, rhetorical, political speech, 
which pleased his opponents and disgusted his 
clients and their friends. Mr. Wirt, loaded with 
business cares of every sort, came into court quite 
unprepared, and endeavored to make up for his 
deficiencies by declamation. On the other side the 
case was managed with consummate skill. Hop- 
kinson was a sound lawyer, and, being thoroughly 
prepared, made a good legal argument. The bur- 
den of the conflict was, however, borne by Mr, 
Webster, who was more interested personally 
than professionally, and who, having raised money 
in Boston to defray the expenses of the suit, came 
into the arena at Washington armed to the teeth, 
and in the full lustre of his great powers. 

The case was heard on March 10, 1818, and 
was opened by Mr. Webster. He had studied the 
arguments of his adversaries below, and the vig- 
orous hostile opinion cf the New Hampshire 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 85 

judges. He was in possession of the thorough 
argument emanating from the penetrating mind 
of Mr. Mason and fortified and extended by the 
ample learning and judicial wisdom of Judge 
Smith. To the work of his eminent associates he 
could add nothing more than one not very impor- 
tant point, and a few cases which his far-ranging 
and retentive memory supplied. All the notes, 
minutes, and arguments of Smith and Mason were 
in his hands. It is only just to say that Mr. 
Webster tells all this himself, and that he gives 
all credit to his colleagues, whose arguments he 
says " he clumsily put together," and of which he 
adds that he could only be the reciter. The fac- 
ulty of obtaining and using the valuable work of 
other men, one of the characteristic qualities of a 
high and commanding order of mind, was even 
then strong in Mr. Webster. But in that bright pe- 
riod of early manhood it was accompanied by a 
frank and generous acknowledgment of all and 
more than all the intellectual aid he received from 
others. He truly and properly awarded to Ma- 
son and Smith all the credit for the law and for 
the legal points and theories set forth on their 
side, and modestly says that he was merely the 
arranger and reciter of other men's thoughts. 
But how much that arrangement and recitation 
meant ! There were, perhaps, no lawyers better 
fitted than Mason and Smith to examine a case 
and prepare an argument enriched with everything 



86 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



that learning and sagacity could suggest. But 
when Mr. Webster burst upon the court and the 
nation with this great appeal, it was certain that 
there was no man in the land who could so ar- 
range arguments and facts, who could state them 
so powerfully and with such a grand and fitting 
eloquence. 

The legal part of the argument was printed in 
Farrar's report and also in Wheaton's, after it had 
been carefully revised by Mr. Webster with the 
arguments of his colleagues before him. This 
legal and constitutional discussion shows plainly 
enough Mr. Webster's easy and firm grasp of facts 
and principles, and his power of strong, effective, 
and lucid statement ; but it is in its very nature 
dry, cold, and lawyer-like. It gives no conception 
of the glowing vehemence of the delivery, or of 
those omitted portions of the speech which dealt 
with matters outside the domain of law, and which 
were introduced by Mr. Webster with such telling 
and important results. He spoke for five hours, 
but in the printed report his speech occupies only 
three pages more than that of Mr. Mason in the 
court below. Both were slow speakers, and thus 
there is a great difference in time to be accounted 
for, even after making every allowance for the per- 
oration which we have from another source, and 
for the wealth of legal and historical illustration 
with which Mr. Webster amplified his presenta- 
tion of the question. " Something was left out," 



s 

THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 87 



Mr. Webster says, and that something which must 
have occupied in its delivery nearly an hour was 
the most conspicuous example of the general- 
ship by which Mr. Webster achieved victory, and 
which was wholly apart from his law. This art 
of management had already been displayed in the 
treatment of the cases made up for the Circuit 
Courts, and in the elaborate and irrelevant legal 
discussion which Mr. Webster introduced before 
the Supreme Court. But this management now 
entered on a much higher stage, where it was des- 
tined to win victory, and exhibited in a high 
degree tact and knowledge of men. Mr. Webster 
was fully aware that he could rely, in any aspect 
of the case, upon the sympathy of Marshall and 
Washington. He was equally certain of the un- 
yielding opposition of Duvall and Todd ; the 
other three judges, Johnson, Livingston, and 
Story, were known to be adverse to the college, 
but were possible converts. The first point was 
to increase the sympathy of the Chief Justice to an 
eager and even passionate support. Mr. Webster 
knew the chord to strike, and he touched it with 
a master hand. This was the " something left 
out," of which we know the general drift, and we 
can easily imagine the effect. In the midst of all 
the legal and constitutional arguments, relevant 
and irrelevant, even in the pathetic appeal which 
he used so well in behalf of his Alma Mater, Mr. 
Webster boldly and yet skilfully introduced the 



88 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



political view of the case. So delicately did he 
do it that an attentive listener did not realize 
that he was straying from the field of " mere rea- 
son " into that of political passion. Here no man 
could equal him or help him, for here his eloquence 
had full scope, and on this he relied to arouse 
Marshall, whom he thoroughly understood. In 
occasional sentences he pictured his beloved col- 
lege under the wise rule of Federalists and of the 
Church. He depicted the party assault that was 
made upon her. He showed the citadel of learn- 
ing threatened with unholy invasion and falling 
helplessly into the hands of Jacobins and free- 
thinkers. As the tide of his resistless and solemn 
eloquence, mingled with his masterly argument, 
flowed on, we can imagine how the great Chief 
Justice roused like an old war-horse at the sound 
of the trumpet. The words of the speaker car- 
ried him back to the early years of the century, 
when, in the full flush of manhood, at the head of 
his court, the last stronghold of Federalism, the 
last bulwark of sound government, he had faced 
the power of the triumphant Democrats. Once 
more it was Marshall against Jefferson, — the 
judge against the President. Then he had pre- 
served the ark of the Constitution. Then he had 
seen the angry waves of popular feeling breaking 
vainly at his feet. Now, in his old age, the con- 
flict was revived. Jacobinism was raising its sac« 
rilegious hand against the temples of learning 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 



89 



against the friends of order and good government. 
The joy of battle must have glowed once more in 
the old man's breast as he grasped anew his weap- 
ons and prepared with all the force of his indom- 
itable will to raise yet another constitutional bar- 
rier across the path of his ancient enemies. 

We cannot but feel that Mr. Webster's lost 
passages, embodying this political appeal, did the 
work, and that the result was settled when the 
political passions of the Chief Justice were fairly 
aroused. Marshall would probably have brought 
about the decision by the sole force of his imperi- 
ous will. But Mr. Webster did a good deal of 
effective work after the arguments were all fin- 
ished, and no account of the case would be com- 
plete without a glance at the famous peroration 
with which he concluded his speech and in which 
he boldly flung aside all vestige of legal reasoning, 
and spoke directly to the passions and emotions 
of his hearers. 

When he had finished his argument he stood 
silent for some moments, until every eye was fixed 
upon him, then, addressing the Chief Justice, he 
said : — 

" This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of 
that humble institution, it is the case of every college 
in our land. . . . 

" Sir, you may destroy this little institution ; it is 
weak ; it is in your hands ! I know it is one of the 
lesser lights in the literary horizon of our country. 



90 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



You may put it out. But if you do so you must carry 
through your work ! You must extinguish, one after 
another, all those greater lights of science which for 
more than a century have thrown their radiance over 
our land. It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. 
And yet there are those who love it." 

Here his feelings mastered him ; his eyes filled 
with tears, his lips quivered, his voice was choked. 
In broken words of tenderness he spoke of his at- 
tachment to the college, and his tones seemed 
filled with the memories of home and boyhood ; 
of early affections and youthful privations and 
struggles. 

" The court room," says Mr. Goodrich, to whom we 
owe this description, " during these two or three min- 
utes presented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Jus- 
tice Marshall, with his tall and gaunt figure bent over 
as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep furrows 
of his cheek expanded with emotion and his eyes suf- 
fused with tears ; Mr. Justice Washington, at his side, 
with his small and emaciated frame, and countenance 
more like marble than I ever saw on any other human 
being, — leaning forward with an eager, troubled look ; 
and the remainder of the court at the two extremities, 
pressing, as it were, to a single point, while the au- 
dience below were wrapping themselves round in closer 
folds beneath the bench, to catch each look and every 
movement of the speaker's face. . . . 

" Mr. Webster had now recovered his composure, and, 
fixing his keen eye on the Chief Justice, said in that 
deep tone with which he sometimes thrilled the heart 
of an audience : — 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE, ' 91 

" 6 Sir, I know not how others may feel ' (glancing 
at the opponents of the college before him), ' but for 
myself, when I see my Alma Mater surrounded, like Cse- 
sar in the senate-house, by those who are reiterating 
stab after stab, I would not, for this right hand, have 
her turn to me, and say, Et tu quoque, mi jiliJ And thou 
too, my son ! 9 " 

This outbreak of feeling was perfectly genuine. 
Apart from his personal relations to the college, 
he had the true oratorical temperament, and no 
man can be an orator in the highest sense unless 
he feels intensely, for the moment at least, the 
truth and force of every word he utters. To move 
others deeply he must be deeply moved himself. 
Yet at the same time Mr. Webster's peroration, 
and, indeed, his whole speech, was a model of 
consummate art. Great lawyer as he undoubtedly 
was, he felt on this occasion that he could not rely 
on legal argument and pure reason alone. With- 
out appearing to go beyond the line of propriety, 
without indulging in a declamation un suited to 
the place, he had to step outside of legal points 
and in a freer air, where he could use his keenest 
and strongest weapons, appeal to the court not as 
lawyers but as men subject to passion, emotion, 
and prejudice. This he did boldly, delicately, 
successfully, and thus he won his case. 

The replies of the opposing counsel were poor 
enough after such a speech. Holmes's declama- 
tion sounded rather cheap, and Mr. Wirt, thrown 



92 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



off his balance by Mr. Webster's exposure of bis 
ignorance, did but slight justice to himself or his 
cause. March 12th the arguments were closed, and 
the next day, after a conference, the Chief Justice 
announced that the court could agree on nothing 
and that the cause must be continued for a year, 
until the next term.Y The fact probably was that 
Marshall found the judges five to two against the 
college, and that the task of bringing them into 
line was not a light one. * 

In this undertaking, however, he was powerfully 
aided by the counsel and all the friends of the col- 
lege. The old board of trustees had already paid 
much attention to public opinion. The press was 
largely Federalist, and, under the pressure of what 
was made a party question, they had espoused 
warmly the cause of the college. Letters and 
essays had appeared, and pamphlets had been 
circulated, together with the arguments of the 
counsel at Exeter, n This work was pushed with 
increased eagerness after the argument at Wash- 
ington, and the object now was to create about 
the three doubtful judges an atmosphere of public 
opinion which should imperceptibly bring them 
over to the college/ Johnson, Livingston, and 
Story were all men who would have started at 
the barest suspicion of outside influence even 
in the most legitimate form of argument, which 
was all that was ever thought of or attempted. 
This made the task of the trustees very delicate 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE, 



93 



and difficult in developing a public sentiment 
which should sway the judges without their being 
aware of it.p The printed arguments of Mason, 
Smith, and Webster were carefully sent to certain 
of the judges, but not to all. * All documents of 
a similar character found their way to the same 
quarters.' The leading Federalists were aroused 
everywhere, so that the judges might be made to 
feel their opinion. ^i.With Story, as a New Eng- 
land man, a Democrat by circumstances, a Fed- 
eralist by nature, there was but little difficulty.^ 
A thorough review of the case, joined with Mr. 
Webster's argument, caused him soon to change 
his first impression. To reach Livingston and 
Johnson was not so easy, for they were out of 
New England, and it was necessary to go a long 
way round to get at them/j, The great legal up- 
holder of Federalism in New York was Chancellor 
Kent. His first impression, like that of Story, 
was decidedly against the college, but after much 
effort on the part of the trustees and their able 
allies, Kent was converted, partly through his 
reason, partly through his Federalism, and then 
his powers of persuasion and his great influence 
on opinion came to bear very directly on Living- 
ston, more remotely on Johnson. The whole busi- 
ness was managed like a quiet, decorous political 
campaign, ff The press and the party were every- 
where actively interested. At first, and in the 
early summer of 1818 3 before Kent was converted, 



94 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



matters looked badly for the trustees. Mr. Web- 
ster knew the complexion of the court, and hoped 
little from the point raised in Trustees vs. Wood- 
ward. Still, no one despaired, and the work was 
kept up until, in September, President Brown 
wrote to Mr. Webster in reference to the argu- 
ment : — 

" It has already been, or shortly will be, read by all 
the commanding men of New England and New York ; 
and so far as it has gone it has united them all, without 
a single exception within my knowledge, in one broad 
and impenetrable phalanx for our defence and support. 
New England and New York are gained. Will not this 
be sufficient for our present purposes ? If not, I should 
recommend reprinting. And on this point you are the 
best judge. I prevailingly think, however, that the cur- 
rent of opinion from this part of the country is setting 
so strongly towards the South that we may safely trust 
to its force alone to accomplish whatever is necessary." 

The worthy clergyman writes of public opinion 
as if the object was to elect a President. All 
this effort, however, was well applied, as was found 
when the court came together at the next term. 
In the interval the State had become sensible of 
the defects of their counsel, and had retained Mr. 
Pinkney, who stood at that time at the head of 
the bar of the United States. He had all the qual- 
ifications of a great lawyer, except perhaps that of 
robustness. He was keen, strong, and learned ; 
diligent in preparation, he was ready and fluent in 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 95 

action, a good debater, and master of a high order 
of eloquence. He was a most formidable adver- 
sary, and one whom Mr. Webster, then just at the 
outset of his career, had probably no desire to meet 
in such a doubtful case as this. 1 Even here, how- 
ever, misfortune seemed to pursue the State, for 
Mr. Pinkney was on bad terms with Mr. Wirt, 
and acted alone. He did all that was possible ; 
prepared himself elaborately in the law and his- 
tory of the case, and then went into court ready 
to make the wisest possible move by asking for a 
re-argument. Marshall, however, was also quite 
prepared. Turning his " blind ear," as some one 
said, to Pinkney, he announced, as soon as he took 
his seat, that the judges had come to a conclusion 
during the vacation. He then read one of Ids 

1 Mr. Peter Harvey, in his Reminiscences (p. 122), has an anec- 
dote in regard to Webster and Pinkney, which places the former 
in the light of a common and odious bully, an attitude as alien to 
Mr. Webster's character as can well be conceived. The story is 
undoubtedly either wholly fictitious or so grossly exaggerated as 
to be practically false. On the page preceding the account of 
this incident, Mr. Harvey makes Webster say that he never re- 
ceived a challenge from Randolph, whereas in Webster's own let- 
ter,, published by Mr. Curtis, there is express reference to a note 
of challenge received from Randolph. This is a fair example of 
these Reminiscences. A more untrustworthy book it would be 
impossible to imagine. There is not a statement in it which can 
be safely accepted, unless supported by other evidence. It puts 
its subject throughout in the most unpleasant light, and nothing 
has ever been written about Webster so well calculated to injure 
and belittle him as these feeble and distorted recollections of his 
loving and devoted Bos well. It is the reflection of a great man 
upon the mirror of a very small mind and weak memory. 



96 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



great opinions, in which he held that the college 
charter was a contract within the meaning of the 
Constitution, and that the acts of the New Hamp- 
shire Legislature impaired this contract, and were 
therefore void. To this decision four judges as- 
sented in silence, although Story and Washington 
subsequently wrote out opinions. Judge Todd 
was absent, through illness, and Judge Duvall dis- 
sented. The immediate effect of the decision was 
to leave the college in the hands of the victorious 
Federalists. In the precedent which it estab- 
lished, however, it had much deeper and more 
far-reaching results. It brought within the scope 
of the Constitution of the United States every 
charter granted by a State, limited the action of 
the States in a most important attribute of sover- 
eignty, and extended the jurisdiction of the high- 
est federal court more than any other judgment 
ever rendered by them. From the day when it 
was announced to the present time, the doctrine of 
Marshall in the Dartmouth College case has con- 
tinued to exert an enormous influence, and has 
been constantly sustained and attacked in litiga- 
tion of the greatest importance. 

The defendant Woodward having died, Mr. 
Webster moved that the judgment be entered 
nunc pro tunc. Pinkney and Wirt objected on 
the ground that the other causes on the docket 
contained additional facts, and that no final judg- 
ment should be entered until these causes had 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 



97 



been heard. The court, however, granted Mr. 
Webster's motion. Mr. Pinkney then tried to 
avail himself of the stipulation in regard to the 
special verdict, that any new and material facts 
might be added or any facts expunged. Mr. Web- 
ster peremptorily declined to permit any change, 
obtained judgment against Woodward, and obliged 
Mr. Pinkney to consent that the other causes 
should be remanded, without instructions, to the 
Circuit Court, where they were heard by Judge 
Story, who rendered a decree nisi for the college. 
This closed the case, and such were the last dis- 
plays of Mr. Webster's dexterous and vigorous 
management of the famous " college causes." 

The popular opinion of this case seems to be 
that Mr. Webster, with the aid of Mr. Mason and 
Judge Smith, developed a great constitutional ar- 
gument, which he forced upon the acceptance of 
the court by the power of his close and logical 
reasoning, and thus established an interpretation 
of the Constitution of vast moment. The truth 
is, that the suggestion of the constitutional point, 
not a very remarkable idea in itself, originated, as 
has been said, with a layman, was regarded by 
Mr. Webster as a forlorn hope, and was very 
briefly discussed by him before the Supreme Court. 
He knew, of course, that if the case were to be 
decided against Woodward, it could only be on the 
constitutional point, but he evidently thought that 
the court would not take the view of it which was 
7 



98 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



favorable to the college. The Dartmouth College 
case was unquestionably one of Mr. Webster's 
great achievements at the bar, but it has been 
rightly praised on mistaken grounds. Mr. Web- 
ster made a very fine presentation of the argu- 
ments mainly prepared by Mason and Smith. He 
transcended the usual legal limits with a burst of 
eloquent appeal which stands high among the fa- 
mous passages of his oratory. In what may be 
called the strategy of the ease he showed the best 
generalship and the most skilful management. He 
also proved himself to be possessed of great tact 
and to be versed in the knowledge of men, qual- 
ities not usually attributed to him because their 
exercise involved an amount of care and pains- 
taking foreign to his indolent and royal temper- 
ament, which almost always relied on weight and 
force for victory. 

Mr. Webster no doubt improved in details, and 
made better arguments at the bar than he did 
upon this occasion, but the Dartmouth College 
case, on the whole, shows his legal talents so nearly 
at their best, and in such unusual variety, that it 
is a fit point at which to pause in order to con- 
sider some of his other great legal arguments and 
his position and abilities as a lawyer. For this 
purpose it is quite sufficient to confine ourselves 
to the cases mentioned by Mr. Curtis, and to the 
legal arguments preserved in the collection of Mr, 
Webster's speeches. 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE, 99 

Five years after the Dartmouth College decision, 
Mr. Webster made his famous argument in the 
case of Gibbons vs. Ogden. The case was called 
suddenly, and Mr. Webster prepared his argument 
in a single night of intense labor. The facts were 
all before him, but he showed a readiness in ar- 
rangement only equalled by its force. The ques- 
tion was whether the State of New York had a 
right under the Constitution to grant a monopoly 
of steam navigation in its waters to Fulton and 
Livingston. Mr. Webster contended that the acts 
making such a grant were unconstitutional, be- 
cause the power of Congress to regulate com- 
merce was, within certain limitations, exclusive. 
He won his cause, and the decision, from its im- 
portance, probably enhanced the contemporary 
estimate of his effort. The argument was badly 
reported, but it shows all its author's strongest 
qualities of close reasoning and effective state- 
ment. The point in issue was neither difficult 
nor obscure, and afforded no opportunity for a 
display of learning. It was purely a matter of 
constitutional interpretation, and could be dis- 
cussed chiefly in a historical manner and from the 
standpoint of public interests. This was partic- 
ularly fitted to Mr. Webster's cast of mind, and he 
did his subject full justice. It was pure argument 
on general principles. Mr. Webster does not 
reach that point of intense clearness and conden- 
sation which characterized Marshall and Hamil- 



100 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ton, in whose writings we are fascinated by the 
beauty of the intellectual display, and are held 
fast by each succeeding line, which always comes 
charged with fresh meaning. Nevertheless, Mr. 
Webster touches a very high point in this most 
difficult form of argument, and the impressiveness 
of his manner and voice carried all that he said to 
its mark with a direct force in which he stood un- 
rivalled. 

In Ogden v. Saunders, heard in 1827, Mr. Web- 
ster argued that the clause prohibiting state laws 
impairing the obligation of contracts covered fu- 
ture as well as past contracts. He defended his 
position with astonishing ability, but the court 
very correctly decided against him. The same 
qualities which appear in these cases are shown 
in the others of a like nature, which were con- 
spicuous among the multitude with which he was 
intrusted. We find them also in cases involving 
purely legal questions, such as the Bank of the 
United States v. Primrose, and The Providence 
Railroad Co. v. The City of Boston, accompa- 
nied always with that ready command of learn- 
ing which an extraordinary memory made easy. 
There seemed to be no diminution of Mr. Web- 
ster's great powers in this field as he advanced in 
years. In the Rhode Island case and in the Pas- 
senger Tax cases, argued when he was sixty-six 
years old, he rose to the same high plane of clear, 
impressive, effective reasoning as when he de* 
fended his Alma Mater. 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 101 



Two causes, however, demand more than a pass- 
ing mention, — the Girard will case and the Rhode 
Island case. The former involved no constitutional 
points. The suit was brought to break the will of 
Stephen Girard, and the question was whether the 
bequest to found a college could be construed to 
be a charitable devise. On this question Mr. Web- 
ster had a weak case in point of law, but he readily 
detected a method by which he could go boldly 
outside the law, as he had done to a certain de- 
gree in the Dartmouth College case, and substi- 
tute for argument an eloquent and impassioned 
appeal to emotion and prejudice. Girard was a 
free-thinker, and he provided in his will that no 
priest or minister of any denomination should be 
admitted to his college. Assuming that this ex- 
cluded all religious teaching, Mr. Webster then 
laid down the proposition that no bequest or 
gift could be charitable which excluded Christian 
teaching. In other words, he contended that there 
was no charity except Christian charity, which, 
the poet assures us, is so rare. At this day such 
a theory would hardly be gravely propounded by 
any one. But Mr. Webster, on the ground that 
Girard's bequest was derogatory to Christianity, 
pronounced a very fine discourse defending and 
eulogizing, with much eloquence, the Christian re- 
ligion. The speech produced a great effect. One 
is inclined to think that it was the cause of the 
court's evading the question raised by Mr. Web- 



102 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ster, and sustaining the will, a result they were 
bound to reach in any event, on other grounds. 
The speech certainly produced a great sensation, 
and was much admired, especially by the clergy, 
who caused it to be printed and widely distrib- 
uted. It did not impress lawyers quite so favor- 
ably, and we find Judge Story writing to Chan- 
cellor Kent that " Webster did his best for the 
other side, but it seems to me altogether an ad- 
dress to the prejudices of the clergy." The sub- 
ject, in certain ways, had a deep attraction for 
Mr. Webster. His imagination was excited by 
the splendid history of the Church, and his conser- 
vatism was deeply stirred by a system which, 
whether in the guise of the Romish hierarchy, as 
the Church of England, or in the form of power- 
ful dissenting sects, was, as a whole, imposing 
by its age, its influence, and its moral grandeur. 
Moreover, it was one of the great established bul- 
warks of well-ordered and civilized society. All 
this appealed strongly to Mr. Webster, and he 
made the most of his opportunity and of his 
shrewdly-chosen ground. Yet the speech on the 
Girard will is not one of his best efforts. It has 
not the subdued but intense fire which glowed so 
splendidly in his great speeches in the Senate. It 
lacked the stately pathos which came always when 
Mr. Webster was deeply moved. It was delivered 
in 1844, and was slightly tinged with the pom- 
pousness which manifested itself in his late years, 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 103 



and especially on religious topics. No man has a 
right to question the religious sincerity of another, 
unless upon evidence so full and clear that, in 
such cases, it is rarely to be found. There is cer- 
tainly no cause for doubt in Mr. Webster's case. 
He was both sincere and honest in religion, and 
had a real and submissive faith. But he accepted 
his religion as one of the great facts and proprie- 
ties of life. He did not reacli his religious con- 
victions after much burning questioning and many 
bitter experiences. In this he did not differ from 
most men of this age, and it only amounts to say- 
ing that Mr. Webster did not have a deeply re- 
ligious temperament. He did not have the ardent 
proselyting spirit which is the surest indication of 
a profoundly religious nature ; the spirit of the 
Saracen Emir crying, " Forward ! Paradise is 
under the shadow of our swords." When, there- 
fore, he turned his noble powers to a defence of 
religion, he did not speak with that impassioned 
fervor which, coming from the depths of a man's 
heart, savors of inspiration and seems essential 
to the highest religious eloquence. He believed 
thoroughly every word he uttered, but he did not 
feel it, and in things spiritual the heart must be 
enlisted as well as the head. It was wittily said 
of a well-known anti-slavery leader, that had he 
lived in the Middle Ages he would have gone to 
the stake for a principle, under a misapprehension 
as to the facts. Mr. Webster not only could never 



104 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



have misapprehended facts, but, if he had flour- 
ished in the Middle Ages he would have been 
a stanch and honest supporter of the strongest 
government and of the dominant church. Per- 
haps this defines his religious character as well as 
anything, and explains why the argument in the 
Girard will case, fine as it was, did not reach the 
elevation and force which he so often displayed 
on other themes. 

The Rhode Island case grew out of the troubles 
known at that period as Dorr's rebellion. It in- 
volved a discussion not only of the constitutional 
provisions for suppressing insurrections and secur- 
ing to every State a republican form of govern- 
ment, but also of the general history and theory 
of the American governments, both state and na- 
tional. There was thus offered to Mr. Webster 
that full scope and large field in which he de- 
lighted, and which were always peculiarly favor- 
able to his talents. His argument was purely 
constitutional, and although not so closely rea- 
soned, perhaps, as some of his earlier efforts, is, 
on the whole, as fine a specimen as we have of his 
intellectual power as a constitutional lawyer at 
the bar of the highest national tribunal. Mr. 
Webster did not often transcend the proper limits 
of purely legal discussion in the courts, and yet 
even when the question was wholly legal, the 
court-room would be crowded by ladies as well as 
gentlemen, to hear him speak. It was so at the 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 105 



hearing of the Girard suit ; and during the strictly 
legal arguments in the Charles River Bridge case, 
the court-room, Judge Story says, was filled with 
a brilliant audience, including many ladies, and 
he adds that " Webster's closing reply was in his 
best manner, but with a little too much fierte 
here and there." The ability to attract such au- 
diences gives an idea of the impressiveness of his 
manner and of the beauty of his voice and delivery 
better than anything else, for these qualities alone 
could have drawn the general public and held 
their attention to the cold and dry discussion of 
laws and constitutions. 

There is a little anecdote told by Mr. Curtis in 
connection with this Rhode Island case, which il- 
lustrates very well two striking qualities in Mr. 
Webster as a lawyer. The counsel in the court 
below had been assisted by a clever young lawyer 
named Bosworth, who had elaborated a point which 
he thought very important, but which his seniors 
rejected. Mr. Bosworth was sent to Washington 
to instruct Mr. Webster as to the cause, and, after 
he had gone through the case, Mr. Webster asked 
if that was all. Mr. Bosworth modestly replied 
that there was another view of his own which his 
seniors had rejected, and then stated it briefly. 
When he concluded, Mr. Webster started up and 
exclaimed, " Mr. Bosworth, by the blood of all the 
Bosworths who fell on Bosworth field, that is the 
point of the case. Let it be included in the brief 



106 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



by all means." This is highly characteristic of 
one of Mr. Webster's strongest attributes. He 
always saw with an unerring glance " the point " 
of a case or a debate. A great surgeon will de- 
tect the precise spot where the knife should enter 
when disease hides it from other eyes, and often 
with apparent carelessness will make the neces- 
sary incision at the exact place when a deflection 
of a hair's breadth or a tremor of the hand would 
bring death to the patient. Mr. Webster had the 
same intellectual dexterity, the mingled result of 
nature and art. As the tiger is said to have a 
sure instinct for the throat of his victim, so Mr. 
Webster always seized on the vital point of a 
question. Other men would debate and argue for 
days, perhaps, and then Mr. Webster would take 
up the matter, and grasp at once the central and 
essential element which had been there all along, 
pushed hither and thither, but which had escaped 
all eyes but his own. He had preeminently 

" The calm eye that seeks 
'Midst all the huddling silver little worth 
The one thin piece that comes, pure gold." 

The anecdote further illustrates the use which 
Mr. Webster made of the ideas of other people. 
He did not say to Mr. Bosworth, here is the true 
point of the case, but he saw that something was 
wanting, and asked the young lawyer what it was. 
The moment the proposition was stated he recog- 
nized its value and importance at a glance. He 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 107 

might and probably would have discovered it for 
himself, but his instinct was to get it from some 
one else. 

It is one of the familiar attributes of great in- 
tellectual power to be able to select subordinates 
wisely ; to use other people and other people's 
labor and thought to the best advantage, and to 
have as much as possible done for one by others. 
This power of assimilation Mr. Webster had to a 
marked degree. There is no depreciation in say- 
ing that he took much from others, for it is a ca- 
pacity characteristic of the strongest minds, and so 
long as the debt is acknowledged, such a faculty 
is a subject for praise, not criticism. But when 
the recipient becomes unwilling to admit the ob- 
ligation which is no detraction to himself, and 
without which the giver is poor indeed, the case is 
altered. In his earliest days Mr. Webster used 
to draw on one Parker Noyes, a mousing, learned 
New Hampshire lawyer, and freely acknowledged 
the debt. In the Dartmouth College case, as has 
been seen, he oyer and over again gave simply 
and generously all the credit for the learning and 
the points of the brief to Mason and Smith, and 
yet the glory of the case has rested with Mr. 
Webster and always will. He gained by his frank 
honesty and did not lose a whit. But in his lat- 
ter days, when his sense of justice had grown 
somewhat blunted and his nature was perverted 
by the unmeasured adulation of the little immedi- 



108 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ate circle which then hung about him, he ceased 
to admit his obligations as in his earlier and bet- 
ter years. From no one did Mr. Webster receive 
so much hearty and generous advice and assistance 
as from Judge Story, whose calm judgment and 
wealth of learning were always at his disposal. 
They were given not only in questions of law, but 
in regard to the Crimes Act, the Judiciary Act, 
and the Ashburton treaty. After Judge Story's 
death, Mr. Webster not only declined to allow the 
publication by the judge's son and biographer of 
Story's letters to himself, but he refused to per- 
mit even the publication of extracts from his own 
letters, intended merely to show the nature of 
the services rendered to him by Story. A cordial 
assent would have enhanced the reputation of 
both. The refusal is a blot on the intellectual 
greatness of the one and a source of bitterness to 
the descendants and admirers of the other. It 
is to be regretted that the extraordinary ability 
which Mr. Webster always showed in grasping 
and assimilating masses of theories and facts, and 
in drawing from them what was best, should evet 
have been sullied by a want of gratitude which ; 
properly and freely rendered, would have made 
the lustre of his own fame shine still more brightly. 

A close study of Mr. Webster's legal career, in 
the light of contemporary reputation and of the 
best examples of his work, leads to certain quite 
obvious conclusions. He had not a strongly orig- 



THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 109 

inal or creative legal mind. This was chiefly due 
to nature, but in some measure to a dislike to the 
slow processes of investigation and inquiry which 
were always distasteful to him, although he was 
entirely capable of intense and protracted exertion. 
He cannot, therefore, be ranked with the illustri- 
ous few, among whom we count Mansfield and 
Marshall as the most brilliant examples, who not 
only declared what the law was, but who made it. 
Mr. Webster's powers were not of this class, but, 
except in these highest and rarest qualities, he 
stands in the front rank of the lawyers of his coun- 
try and his age. Without extraordinary profundity 
of thought or depth of learning, he had a wide, 
sure, and ready knowledge both of principles and 
cases. Add to this quick apprehension, unerring 
sagacity for vital and essential points, a perfect 
sense of proportion, an almost unequalled power 
of statement, backed by reasoning at once close 
and lucid, and we may fairly say that Mr. Web- 
ster, who possessed all these qualities, need fear 
comparison with but very few among the great 
lawyers of that period either at home or abroad. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS CONVENTION AND THE 
PLYMOUTH ORATION. 

The conduct of the Dartmouth College case, 
and its result, at once raised Mr. Webster to a po- 
sition at the bar second only to that held by Mr. 
Pinkney. He was now constantly occupied by 
most important and lucrative engagements, but in 
1820 he was called upon to take a leading part in 
a great public work which demanded the exertion 
of all his talents as statesman, lawyer, and debater. 
The lapse of time and the setting off of the Maine 
district as a State had made a convention neces- 
sary, in order to revise the Constitution of Massa- 
chusetts. This involved the direct resort to the 
people, the source of all power, which is only re- 
quired to effect a change in the fundamental law 
of the State. On these rare occasions it has been 
the honored custom in Massachusetts to lay aside 
all the qualifications attaching to ordinary legisla- 
tures and to choose the best men, without regard 
to party, public office, or domicile, for the per- 
formance of this important work. No better or 
abler body could have been assembled for this 



THE MASSACHUSETTS CONVENTION. Ill 

purpose than that which met in convention at 
Boston in November, 1820. Among these dis- 
tinguished men were John Adams, then in his 
eighty-fifth year, and one of the framers of the 
original Constitution of 1780, Chief Justice Par- 
ker, of the Supreme Bench, the Federal judges, 
and many of the leaders at the bar and in busi- 
ness. The two most conspicuous men in the con- 
vention, however, were Joseph Story and Daniel 
Webster, who bore the burden in every discus- 
sion ; and there were three subjects, upon which 
Mr. Webster spoke at length, that deserve more 
than a passing allusion. 

Questions of party have, as a rule, found but 
little place in the constitutional assemblies of Mas- 
sachusetts. This was peculiarly the case in 1820, 
when the old political divisions were dying out, 
and new ones had not yet been formed. At the 
same time widely opposite views found expression 
in the convention. The movement toward thor- 
ough and complete democracy was gathering head- 
way, and directing its force against many of the 
old colonial traditions and habits of government 
embodied in the existing Constitution. That por- 
tion of the delegates which favored certain radical 
changes was confronted and stoutly opposed by 
those who, on the whole, inclined to make as few 
alterations as possible, and desired to keep things 
about as they were. Mr. Webster, as was natural, 
was the leader of the conservative party, and his 



112 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



course in this convention is an excellent illustra- 
tion of this marked trait in his disposition and 
character. 

One of the important questions concerned the 
abolition of the profession of Christian faith as a 
qualification for holding office. On this point the 
line of argument pursued by Mr. Webster is ex- 
tremely characteristic. Although an unvarying 
conservative throughout his life, he was incapable 
of bigotry, or of narrow and illiberal views. At 
the same time the process by which he reached 
his opinion in favor of removiug the religious test 
shows more clearly than even ultra-conservatism 
could, how free he was from any touch of the re- 
forming or innovating spirit. He did not urge 
that, on general principles, religious tests were 
wrong, that they were relics of the past and in 
hopeless conflict with the fundamental doctrines 
of American liberty and democracy. On the con- 
trary, he implied that a religious test was far 
from being of necessity an evil. He laid down the 
sound doctrine that qualifications for office were 
purely matters of expediency, and then argued 
that it was wise to remove the religious test be- 
cause, while its principle would be practically en- 
forced by a Christian community, it was offensive 
to some persons to have it engrafted on the Con- 
stitution. The speech in which he set forth these 
views was an able and convincing one, entirely 
worthy of its author, and the removal of the test 



THE MASSACHUSETTS CONVENTION. 113 

was carried by a large majority. It is an interest- 
ing example of the combination of steady conser- 
vatism and breadth of view which Mr. Webster al- 
ways displayed. But it also brings into strong 
relief his aversion to radical general principles as 
grounds of action, and his inborn hostility to far- 
reaching change. 

His two other important speeches in this con- 
vention have been preserved in his works, and are 
purely and wholly conservative in tone and spirit. 
The first related to the basis of representation in 
the Senate, whose members were then apportioned 
according to the amount of taxable property in 
the districts. This system, Mr. Webster thought, 
should be retained, and his speech was a most 
masterly discussion of the whole system of gov- 
ernment by two Houses. He urged the necessity 
of a basis of representation for the upper House 
different from that of the lower, in order to make 
the former fully serve its purpose of a check and 
balance to the popular branch. This important 
point he handled in the most skilful manner, and 
there is no escape from his conclusion that a dif- 
ference of origin in the two legislative branches 
of the government is essential to the full and per- 
fect operation of the system. This difference of 
origin, he argued, could be obtained only by the 
introduction of property as a factor in the basis 
of representation. The weight of his speech was 
directed to defending the principle of a suitable 
8 



114 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



representation of property, which was a subject 
requiring very adroit treatment. The doctrine is 
one which probably would not be tolerated now 
in any part of this country, and even in 1820, in 
Massachusetts, it was a delicate matter to advocate 
it, for it was hostile to the general sentiment of 
the people. Having established his position that 
it was all important to make the upper branch a 
strong and effective check, he said that the point 
in issue was not whether property offered the best 
method of distinguishing between the two Houses, 
but whether it was not better than no distinction 
at all. This being answered affirmatively, the 
next question to be considered was whether prop- 
erty, not in the sense of personal possessions and 
personal power, but in a general sense, ought not 
to have its due influence in matters of govern- 
ment. He maintained the justice of this proposi- 
tion by showing that our constitutions rest largely 
on the general equality of property, which, in turn, 
is due to our laws of distribution. This led him 
into a discussion of the principles of the distribu- 
tion of property. He pointed out the dangers 
arising in England from the growth of a few large 
estates, while on the other hand he predicted that 
the rapid and minute subdivision of property in 
France would change the character of the govern- 
ment, and, far from strengthening the crown, as 
was then generally prophesied, would have a 
directly opposite effect, by creating a large and 



THE MASSACHUSETTS CONVENTION. 115 



united body of small proprietors, who would sooner 
or later control the country. He illustrated, in 
this way, the value and importance of a general 
equality of property, and of steadiness in legisla- 
tion affecting it. These were the reasons, he con- 
tended, for making property the basis of the check 
and balance furnished to our system of govern- 
ment by an upper House. Moreover, all property 
being subject to taxation for the purpose of educat- 
ing the children of both rich and poor, it deserved 
some representation for this valuable aid to gov- 
ernment. It is impossible, in a few lines, 1 to do 
justice to Mr. Webster's argument. It exhibited 
a great deal of tact and ingenuity, especially in 
the distinction so finely drawn between property 
as an element of personal power and property in a 
general sense, and so distributed as to be a bul- 
wark of liberty. The speech is, on this account, 
an interesting one, for Mr. Webster was rarely in- 
genious, and hardly ever got over difficulties by 
fine-spun distinctions. In this instance adroitness 
was very necessary, and he did not hesitate to em- 
ploy it. By his skilful treatment, by his illus- 
trations drawn from England and France, which 
show the accuracy and range of his mental vision 
in matters of politics and public economy, both at 
home and abroad, and with the powerful support 
of Judge Story, Mr. Webster carried his point. 

1 My brief statement is merely a further condensation of the 
excellent abstract of this speech made by Mr Curtis, 



116 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



The element of property representation in the 
Senate was retained, but so wholly by the ability 
of its advocate, that it was not long afterwards re- 
moved. 

Mr. Webster's other important speech related 
to the judiciary. The Constitution provided that 
the judges, who held office during good behavior, 
should be removable by the Governor on an ad- 
dress from the Legislature. This was considered 
to meet cases of incompetency or of personal mis- 
conduct, which could not be reached by impeach- 
ment. Mr. Webster desired to amend the clause 
so as to require a two thirds vote for the passage 
of the address, and that reasons should be assigned, 
and a hearing assured to the judge who was the 
subject of the proceedings. These changes were 
all directed to the further protection of the bench, 
and it was in this connection that Mr. Webster 
made a most admirable and effective speech on 
the well-worn but noble theme of judicial inde- 
pendence. He failed to carry conviction, how- 
ever, and his amendments were all lost. The 
perils which he anticipated have never arisen, and 
the good sense of the people of Massachusetts has 
prevented the slightest abuse of what Mr. Web- 
ster rightly esteemed a dangerous power. 

Mr. Webster's continual and active exertion 
throughout the session of this convention brought 
him great applause and admiration, and showed 
his powers in a new light. Judge Story, with 



THE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 



117 



generous enthusiasm, wrote to Mr. Mason, after 
the convention adjourned : — 

" Our friend Webster has gained a noble reputation,, 
He was before known as a lawyer ; but he has now se- 
cured the title of an eminent and enlightened statesman. 
It was a glorious field for him, and he has had an ample 
harvest. The whole force of his great mind was brought 
out, and, in several speeches, he commanded universal 
admiration. He always led the van, and was most skilful 
and instantaneous in attack and retreat. He fought, as 
I have told him, in the ' imminent deadly breach ; ' and 
all I could do was to skirmish, in aid of him, upon 
some of the enemy's outposts. On the whole, I never 
was more proud of any display than his in ray life, and 
I am much deceived if the well-earned popularity, so 
justly and so boldly acquired by him on this occasion, 
does not carry him, if he lives, to the presidency." 

While this convention, so memorable in the ca- 
reer of Mr. Webster and so filled with the most 
absorbing labors, was in session, he achieved a 
still wider renown in a very different field. On 
the 22d of December, 1820, he delivered at Plym- 
outh the oration which commemorated the two 
hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pil- 
grims. The theme was a splendid one, both in 
the intrinsic interest of the event itself, in the 
character of the Pilgrims, in the vast results 
which had grown from their humble beginnings, 
and in the principles of free government, which 
had spread from the cabins of the exiles over the 



118 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



face of a continent, and had become the common 
heritage of a great people. We are fortunate in 
having a description of the orator, written at the 
time by a careful observer and devoted friend, 
Mr. Ticknor, who says : — 

"Friday Evening. — I have run away from a great 
levee there is down-stairs, thronging in admiration round 
Mr. Webster, to tell you a little word about his oration. 
Yet I do not dare to trust myself about it, and I warn 
you beforehand that I have not the least confidence in 
my own opinion. His manner carried me away com- 
pletely ; not, I think, that I could have been so carried 
away if it had been a poor oration, for of that, I appre- 
hend, there can be no fear. It must have been a great, 
a very great performance, but whether it was so abso- 
lutely unrivalled as I imagined when I was under the 
immediate influence of his presence, of his tones, of his 
looks, I cannot be sure till I have read it, for it seems 
to me incredible. 

" I was never so excited by public speaking before in 
my life. Three or four times I thought my temples 
would burst with the gush of blood ; for, after all, you 
must know that I am aware it is no connected and com- 
pacted whole, but a collection of wonderful fragments 
of burning eloquence, to which his whole manner gave 
tenfold force. When I came out I was almost afraid 
to come near to him. It seemed to me as if he was 
like the mount that might not be touched and that burned 
with fire. I was beside myself, and am so still." 

" Saturday. — Mr. Webster was in admirable spirits. 
On Thursday evening he was considerably agitated and 



THE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 



119 



oppressed, and yesterday morning he had not his natural 
look at all ; but since his entire success he has been as 
gay and playful as a kitten. The party came in one 
after another, and the spirits of all were kindled brighter 
and brighter, and we fairly sat up till after two o'clock. 
I think, therefore, we may now safely boast the Plym- 
outh expedition has gone off admirably." 

Mr. Ticknor was a man of learning and schol- 
arship, just returned from a prolonged sojourn in 
Europe, where he had met and conversed with all 
the most distinguished men of the day, both in 
England and on the Continent. He was not, 
therefore, disposed by training or recent habits to 
indulge a facile enthusiasm, and such deep emotion 
as he experienced must have been due to no ordi- 
nary cause. He was, in fact, profoundly moved 
because he had been listening to one of the great 
masters of eloquence exhibiting, for the first time, 
his full powers in a branch of the art much more 
cultivated in America by distinguished men of all 
professions than is the custom elsewhere. The 
Plymouth oration belongs to what, for lack of a 
better name, we must call occasional oratory. 
This form of address, taking an anniversary, a 
great historical event or character, a celebration, 
or occasion of any sort as a starting point, per- 
mits either a close adherence to the original text 
or the widest latitude of treatment. The field is 
a broad and inviting one. That it promises an 
easy Success is shown by the innumerable produc- 



120 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



tions of this kind which, for many years, have been 
showered upon the country. That the promise is 
fallacious is proved by the very small number 
among the countless host of such addresses which 
survive the moment of their utterance. The facil- 
ity of saying something is counterbalanced by the 
difficulty of saying anything worth hearing. The 
temptation to stray and to mistake platitude for 
originality is almost always fatal. 

Mr. Webster was better fitted than any man 
who has ever lived in this country for the perilous 
task of occasional oratory. The freedom of move- 
ment which renders most speeches of this class 
diluted and commonplace was exactly what he 
needed. He required abundant intellectual room 
for a proper display of his powers, and he had the 
rare quality of being able to range over vast spaces 
of time and thought without becoming attenuated 
in what he said. Soaring easily, with a powerful 
sweep he returned again to earth without jar or 
shock. He had dignity and grandeur of thought, 
expression, and manner, and a great subject never 
became small by his treatment of it. He had, too, 
a fine historical imagination, and could breathe 
life and passion into the dead events of the past. 

Mr. Ticknor speaks of the Plymouth oration as 
impressing him as a series of eloquent fragments. 
The impression was perfectly correct. Mr. Web- 
ster touched on the historical event, on the char- 
acter of the Pilgrims, on the growth and future of 



TEE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 



121 



the country, on liberty and constitutional princi- 
ples, on education, and on human slavery. This 
was entirely proper to such an address. The diffi- 
culty lay in doing it well, and Mr. Webster did it 
as perfectly as it ever has been done. The thoughts 
were fine, and were expressed in simple and beau- 
tiful words. The delivery was grand and impres- 
sive, and the presentation of each successive theme 
glowed with subdued fire. There was no straining 
after mere rhetorical effect, but an artistic treat- 
ment of a succession of great subjects in a general 
and yet vivid and picturesque fashion. The emo- 
tion produced by the Plymouth oration was akin 
to that of listening to the strains of music issuing 
from a full-toned organ. Those who heard it did 
not seek to gratify their reason or look for convic- 
tion to be brought to their understanding. It did 
not appeal to the logical faculties or to the pas- 
sions, which are roused by the keen contests of 
parliamentary debate. It was the divine gift of 
speech, the greatest instrument given to man, used 
with surpassing talent, and the joy and pleasure 
which it brought were those which come from lis- 
tening to the song of a great singer, or looking 
upon the picture of a great artist. 

The Plymouth oration, which was at once print- 
ed and published, was received with a universal 
burst of applause. It had more literary success 
than anything which had at that time appeared, 
except from the pen of Washington Irving. The 



122 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



public, without stopping to analyze their own feel- 
ings, or the oration itself, recognized at once that 
a new genius had come before them, a man en- 
dowed with the noble gift of eloquence, and capa- 
ble by the exercise of his talents of moving and 
inspiring great masses of his fellow-men. Mr. 
Webster was then of an age to feel fully the glow 
of a great success, both at the moment and when 
the cooler and more critical approbation came. 
He was fresh and young, a strong man rejoicing 
to run the race. Mr. Ticknor says, in speaking 
of the oration : — 

" The passage at the end, where, spreading his arms 
as if to embrace them, he welcomed future generations 
to the great inheritance which we have enjoyed, was 
spoken with the most attractive sweetness and that pe- 
culiar smile which in him was always so charming. The 
effect of the whole was very great. As soon as he got 
home to our lodgings, all the principal people then in 
Plymouth crowded about him. He was full of anima- 
tion, and radiant with happiness. But there was some- 
thing about him very grand and imposing at the same 
time. I never saw him at any time when he seemed to 
me to be more conscious of his own powers, or to have 
a more true and natural enjoyment from their posses- 
sion." 

Amid all the applause and glory, there was 
one letter of congratulation and acknowledgment 
which must have given Mr. Webster more pleas- 
ure than anything else. It came from John Ad* 



THE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 



123 



ams, who never did anything by halves. Whether 
he praised or condemned, he did it heartily and 
ardently, and such an oration on New England 
went straight to the heart of the eager, warm- 
blooded old patriot. His commendation, too, was 
worth having, for he spoke as one having author- 
ity. John Adams had been one of the eloquent 
men and the most forcible debater of the first 
Congress. He had listened to the great orators of 
other lands. He had heard Pitt and Fox, Burke 
and Sheridan, and had been present at the trial of 
Warren Hastings. His unstinted praise meant 
and still means a great deal, and it concludes with 
one of the finest and most graceful of compli- 
ments. The oration, he says, 

" is the effort of a great mind, richly stored with every 
species of information. If there be an American who 
can read it without tears, I am not that American. It 
enters more perfectly into the genuine spirit of New 
England than any production I ever read. The obser- 
vations on the Greeks and Romans ; on colonization in 
general ; on the West India islands ; on the past, pres- 
ent, and future of America, and on the slave-trade, are 
sagacious, profound, and affecting in a high degree." 

u Mr. Burke is no longer entitled to the praise — the 
most consummate orator of modern times." 

" What can I say of what regards myself ? To my \ 
humble name, Exegisti monumentum cere perennius" 

Many persons consider the Plymouth oration to 
be the finest of all Mr. Webster's efforts in this 



124 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



field. It is certainly one of the very best of his 
productions, but he showed on the next great oc- 
casion a distinct improvement, which he long 
maintained. Five years after the oration at 
Plymouth, he delivered the address on the laying 
of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument. 
The superiority to the first oration was not in es- 
sentials, but in details, the fruit of a ripening and 
expanding mind. At Bunker Hill, as at Plym- 
outh, he displayed the massiveness of thought, 
the dignity and grandeur of expression, and the 
range of vision which are all so characteristic of 
his intellect and which were so much enhanced 
by his wonderful physical attributes. But in the 
later oration there is a greater finish and smooth- 
ness. We appreciate the fact that the Plymouth 
oration is a succession of eloquent fragments ; the 
same is true of the Bunker Hill address, but we 
no longer realize it. The continuity is, in appear- 
ance, unbroken, and the whole work is rounded 
and polished. The style, too, is now perfected. 
It is at once plain, direct, massive, and vivid. 
The sentences are generally short and always 
clear, but never monotonous. The preference for 
Anglo-Saxon words and the exclusion of Latin de- 
rivatives are extremely marked, and we find here 
in rare perfection that highest attribute of style, 
the union of simplicity, picturesqueness, and force. 

In the first Bunker Hill oration Mr. Webster 
touched his highest point in the difficult task of 



THE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 125* 

commemorative oratory. In that field he not only 
stands unrivalled, but no one has approached him. 
The innumerable productions of this class by 
other men, many of a high degree of excellence, 
are forgotten, while those of Webster form part 
of the education of every American school-boy, are 
widely read, and have entered into the literature 
and thought of the country. The orations of 
Plymouth and Bunker Hill are grouped in Web- 
ster's works with a number of other speeches pro- 
fessedly of the same kind. But only a very few 
of these are strictly occasional ; the great majority 
are chiefly, if not wholly, political speeches, con- 
taining merely passages here and there in the 
same vein as his great commemorative addresses. 
Before finally leaving the subject, however, it will 
be well to glance for a moment at the few orations J 
which properly belong to the same class as the 
first two which we have been considering. 

The Bunker Hill oration, after the lapse of only 
a year, was followed by the celebrated eulogy 
upon Adams and Jefferson. This usually and 
with justice is ranked in merit with its two imme- 
diate predecessors. As a whole it is not, perhaps, 
quite so much admired, but it contains the famous 
imaginary speech of John Adams, which is the 
best known and most hackneyed passage in any 
of these orations. The opening lines, "Sink or 
swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and my heart to this vote," since Mr. Web- 



126 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ster first pronounced them in Faneuil Hall, have 
risen even to the dignity of a familiar quotation. 
The passage, indeed, is perhaps the best example 
we have of the power of Mr. Webster's historical 
imagination. He had some fragmentary sen- 
tences, the character of the man, the nature of the 
debate, and the circumstances of the time to build 
upon, and from these materials he constructed a 
speech which was absolutely startling in its life- 
like force. The revolutionary Congress, on the 
verge of the tremendous step which was to sepa- 
rate them from England, rises before us as we 
read the burning words which the imagination of 
the speaker put into the mouth of John Adams. 
They are not only instinct with life, but with the 
life of impending revolution, and they glow with 
the warmth and strength of feeling so character- 
istic of their supposed author. It is well known 
that the general belief at the time was that the 
passage was an extract from a speech actually de- 
livered by John Adams. Mr. Webster, as well 
as Mr. Adams's son and grandson, received nu- 
merous letters of inquiry on this point, and it is 
possible that many people still persist in this be- 
lief as to the origin of the passage. Such an 
effect was not produced by mere clever imitation, 
for there was nothing to imitate, but by the force 
of a powerful historic imagination and a strong 
artistic sense in its management. 

In 1828 Mr. Webster delivered an address be- 



THE PLYMOUTH ORATION. 



127 



fore the Mechanics' Institute in Boston, on " Sci- 
ence in connection with the Mechanic Arts," a 
subject which was outside of his usual lines of 
thought, and offered no especial attractions to 
him. This oration is graceful and strong, and 
possesses sufficient and appropriate eloquence. It 
is chiefly interesting, however, from the reserve 
and self-control, dictated by a nice sense of fit- 
ness, which it exhibited. Omniscience was not 
Mr. Webster's foible. He never was guilty of 
Lord Brougham's weakness of seeking to prove 
himself master of universal knowledge. In de- 
livering an address on science and invention, there 
was a strong temptation to an orator like Mr. 
Webster to substitute glittering rhetoric for real 
knowledge ; but the address at the Mechanics' In- 
stitute is simply the speech of a very eloquent and 
a liberally educated man upon a subject with 
which he had only the most general acquaintance. 

The other orations of this class were those on 
" The Character of Washington," the second 
Bunker Hill address, "The Landing at Plym- 
outh," delivered in New York at the dinner of the 
Pilgrim Society, the remarks on the death of 
Judge Story and of Mr. Mason, and finally the 
speech on laying the corner-stone for the addition 
to the Capitol, in 1851. These were all compara- 
tively brief speeches, with the exception of that 
at Bunker Hill, which, although very fine, was 
perceptibly inferior to his first effort when the 



128 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



corner-stone of the monument was laid. The ad- 
dress on the character of Washington, to an Amer- 
ican the most dangerous of great and well-worn 
topics, is of a high order of eloquence. The theme 
appealed to Mr. Webster strongly and brought out 
his best powers, which were peculiarly fitted to do 
justice to the noble, massive, and dignified char- 
acter of the subject. | The last of these addresses, 
that on the addition to the Capitol, was in a pro- 
phetic vein, and, while it shows but little diminu- 
tion of strength, has a sadness even in its splendid 
anticipations of the future, which makes it one of 
the most impressive of its class. All those which 
have been mentioned, however, show the hand of 
the master and are worthy to be preserved in the 
volumes which contain the noble series that began 
in the early flush of genius with the brilliant ora- 
tion in the Plymouth church, and closed with the 
words uttered at Washington, under the shadow 
of the Capitol, when the light of life was fading 
and the end of all things was at hand. 



CHAPTER V. 



EETTJRK TO CONGRESS. 

The thorough knowledge of the principles of 
government and legislation, the practical states- 
manship, and the capacity for debate shown in the 
State convention, combined with the splendid ora- 
tion at Plymouth to make Mr. Webster the most 
conspicuous man in New England, with the single 
exception of John Quincy Adams. There was, 
therefore, a strong and general desire that he 
should return to public life. He accepted with 
some reluctance the nomination to Congress from 
the Boston district in 1822, and in December, 
1823, took his seat. 

The six years which had elapsed since Mr. 
Webster left Washington had been a period of 
political quiet. The old parties had ceased to rep- 
resent any distinctive principles, and the Federal- 
ists scarcely existed as an organization. Mr. Web- 
ster, during this interval, had remained almost 
wholly quiescent in regard to public affairs. He 
had urged the visit of Mr. Monroe to the North, 
which had done so much to hasten the inevitable 
dissolution of parties. He had received Mr. Cal- 
9 



180 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

houn when that gentleman visited Boston, and 
their friendship and apparent intimacy were such 
that the South Carolinian was thought to be his 
host's candidate for the presidency. Except for 
this and the part which he took in the Boston op- 
position to the Missouri compromise and to the 
tariff, matters to be noticed in connection with 
later events, Mr. Webster had held aloof from 
political conflict. 

When he returned to Washington in 1823, the 
situation was much altered from that which he 
had left in 1817. In reality there were no par- 
ties, or only one ; but the all-powerful Republicans 
who had adopted, under the pressure of foreign 
war, most of the Federalist principles so obnox- 
ious to Jefferson and his school, were split up into 
as many factions as there were candidates for the 
presidency. It was a period of transition in which 
personal politics, had taken the place of those 
founded on opposing principles, and this " era of 
good feeling" was marked by the intense bitter- 
ness of the conflicts produced by these personal 
rivalries. In addition to the factions which were 
battling for the control of the Republican party 
and for the great prize of the presidency, there 
was still another faction, composed of the old Fed- 
eralists, who, although without organization, still 
held to their name and their prejudices, and clung 
together more as a matter of habit than with any 
practical object. Mr. Webster had been one of 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



131 



the Federalist leaders in the old days, and when 
he returned to public life with all the distinction 
which he had won in other fields, he was at once 
recognized as the chief and head of all that now 
remained of the great party of Washington and 
Hamilton. No Federalist could hope to be Presi- 
dent, and for this very reason Federalist support 
was eagerly sought by all Republican candidates 
for the presidency. The favor of Mr. Webster as 
the head of an independent and necessarily disin- 
terested faction was, of course, strongly desired in 
many quarters. His political position and his 
high reputation as a lawyer, orator, and statesman 
made him, therefore, a character of the first im- 
portance in Washington, a fact to which Mr. Clay 
at once gave public recognition by placing his fu- 
ture rival at the head of the Judiciary Committee 
of the House. 

The six years of congressional life which now 
ensued were among the most useful if not the 
most brilliant in Mr. Webster's whole public ca- 
reer. He was free from the annoyance of oppo- 
sition at home, and was twice returned by a 
practically unanimous popular vote. He held a 
commanding and influential and at the same time 
a thoroughly independent position in Washington, 
where he was regarded as the first man on the 
floor of the House in point of ability and reputa- 
tion. He was not only able to show his great 
capacity for practical legislation, but he was at 



132 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



liberty to advance his own views on public ques- 
tions in his own way, unburdened by the outside 
influences of party and of association which had 
affected him so much in his previous term of ser- 
vice and were soon to reassert their sway in all 
his subsequent career. 

His return to Congress was at once signalized 
by a great speech, which, although of no practical 
or immediate moment, deserves careful attention 
from the light which it throws on the workings of 
his mind and the development of his opinions in 
regard to his country. The House had been in 
session but a few days when Mr. Webster offered 
a resolution in favor of providing by law for the 
expenses incident to the appointment of a com- 
missioner to Greece, should the President deem 
such an appointment expedient. The Greeks were 
then in the throes of revolution, and the sympathy 
for the heirs of so much glory in their struggle for 
freedom was strong among the American people. 
When Mr. Webster rose on January 19, 1824, to 
move the adoption of the resolution which he had 
laid upon the table of the House, the chamber was 
crowded and the galleries were filled by a large 
and fashionable audience attracted by the repu- 
tation of the orator and the interest felt in his 
subject. His hearers were disappointed if they 
expected a great rhetorical display, for which the 
nature of the subject and the classic memories 
clustering about it offered such strong tempta* 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



133 



tions. Mr. Webster did not rise for that purpose, 
nor to make capital by an appeal to a temporary 
popular interest. His speech was for a wholly 
different purpose. It was the first expression of 
that grand conception of the American Union 
which had vaguely excited his youthful enthu- 
siasm. This conception had now come to be part 
of his intellectual being, and then and always 
stirred his imagination and his affections to their 
inmost depths. It embodied the principle from 
which he never swerved, and led to all that he 
represents and to all that his influence means in 
our history. 

As the first expression of his conception of the 
destiny of the United States as a great and united 
nation, Mr. Webster was, naturally, " more fond 
of this child " than of any other of his intellectual 
family. The speech itself was a noble one, but it 
was an eloquent essay rather than a great exam- 
ple of the oratory of debate. This description can 
in no other case be applied to Mr. Webster's par- 
liamentary efforts, but in this instance it is cor- 
rect, because the occasion justified such a form. 
Mr. Webster's purpose was to show that, though 
the true policy of the United States absolutely 
debarred them from taking any part in the affairs 
of Europe, yet they had an important duty to per- 
form in exercising their proper influence on the 
public opinion of the world. Europe was then 
struggling with the monstrous principles of the 



134 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



" Holy Alliance." Those principles Mr. Webster 
reviewed historically. He showed their pernicious 
tendency, their hostility to all modern theories of 
government, and their especial opposition to the 
principles of American liberty. If the doctrines 
of the Congress of Laybach were right and could 
be made to prevail, then those of America were 
wrong and the systems of popular government 
adopted in the United States were doomed. 
Against such infamous principles it behooved the 
people of the United States to raise their voice. 
Mr. Webster sketched the history of Greece, and 
made a fine appeal to Americans to give an ex- 
pression of their sympathy to a people struggling 
for freedom. He proclaimed, so that all men 
might hear, the true duty of the United States 
toward the oppressed of any land, and the respon- 
sibility which they held to exert their influence 
upon the opinions of mankind. The national des- 
tiny of his country in regard to other nations was 
his theme ; to give to the glittering declaration 
of Canning, that he would " call in the new world 
to redress the balance of the old," a deep and real 
significance was his object. 

The speech touched Mr. Clay to the quick. 
He supported Mr. Webster's resolution with all 
the ardor of his generous nature, and supplemented 
it by another against the interference of Spain in 
South America. A stormy debate followed, viv- 
ified by the flings and taunts of John Randolph, 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



135 



but the unwillingness to take action was so 
great that Mr. Webster did not press his resolu- 
tion to a vote. He had at the outset looked for 
a practical result from his resolution, and had de- 
sired the appointment of Mr. Everett as commis- 
sioner, a plan in which he had been encouraged « 
by Mr. Calhoun, who had given him to under- 
stand that the Executive regarded the Greek mis- 
sion with favor. Before he delivered his speech 
he became aware that Calhoun had misled him, 
that Mr. Adams, the Secretary of State, con- 
sidered Everett too much of a partisan, and that 
the administration was wholly averse to any ac- 
tion in the premises. This destroyed all hope of 
a practical result, and made an adverse vote cer- 
tain. The only course was to avoid a decision 
and trust to what he said for an effect on public 
opinion. The real purpose of the speech, however, 
was achieved. Mr. Webster had exposed and de- 
nounced the Holy Alliance as hostile to the liber- 
ties of mankind, and had declared the unalterable 
enmity of the United States to its reactionary 
doctrines. The speech was widely read, not only 
wherever English was spoken, but it was trans- 
lated into all the languages of Europe, and was 
circulated throughout South America. It increased 
Mr. Webster's fame at home and laid the founda- 
tion of his reputation abroad. Above all, it 
stamped him as a statesman of a broad and na- 
tional cast of mind. 



136 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



He now settled down to hard and continuous 
labor at the routine business of the House, and it 
was not until the end of March that he had occa- 
sion to make another elaborate and important 
speech. At that time Mr. Clay took up the bill 
for laying certain protective duties and advocated 
it strenuously as part of a general and steady pol- 
icy which he then christened with the name of 
" the American system." Against this bill, known 
as the tariff of 1824, Mr. Webster made, as Mr. 
Adams wrote in his diary at the time, " an able 
and powerful speech," which can be more properly 
considered when we come to his change of position 
on this question a few years later. 

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the 
affairs of the national courts were his particular 
care. Western expansion demanded an increased 
number of judges for the circuits, but, unfortu- 
nately, decisions in certain recent cases had of- 
fended the sensibilities of Virginia and Kentucky, 
and there was a renewal of the old Jeffersonian 
efforts to limit the authority of the Supreme 
Court. Instead of being able to improve, he was 
obliged to defend the court, and this he did suc- 
cessfully, defeating all attempts to curtail its power 
by alterations of the act of 1789. These duties 
and that of investigating the charges brought by 
Ninian Edwards against Mr. Crawford, the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, made the session an un- 
usually laborious one, and detained Mr. Webster 
in Washington until midsummer. 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



137 



The short session of the next winter was of 
course marked by the excitement attendant upon 
the settlement of the presidential election which 
resulted in the choice of Mr. John Quincy Adams 
by the House of Representatives. The intense 
agitation in political circles did not, however, pre- 
vent Mr. Webster from delivering one very im- 
portant speech, nor from carrying through success- 
fully one of the most important and practically 
useful measures of his legislative career. The 
speech was delivered in the debate on the bill for 
continuing the national Cumberland road. Mr. 
Webster had already, many years before, defined 
his position on the constitutional question involved 
in internal improvements. He now, in response 
to Mr. McDuffie of South Carolina, who de- 
nounced the measure as partial and sectional, not 
merely defended the principle of internal improve- 
ments, but declared that it was a policy to be 
pursued only with the purest national feeling. It 
was not the business of Congress, he said, to legis- 
late for this State or that, or to balance local in- 
terests, and because they helped one region to help 
another, but to act for the benefit of all the States 
united, and in making improvements to be guided 
only by their necessity. He showed that these 
roads would open up the West to settlement, and 
incidentally defended the policy of selling the 
public lands at a low price as an encouragement 
to emigration, telling his Southern friends very 



138 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



plainly that they could not expect to coerce the 
course of population in favor of their own section. 
The whole speech was conceived in the broadest 
and wisest spirit, and marks another step in the 
development of Mr. Webster as a national states- 
man. It increased his reputation, and brought to 
him a great accession of popularity in the West. 

The measure which he carried through was the 
famous " Crimes Act," perhaps the best monu- 
ment that there is of his legislative and construc- 
tive ability. The criminal law of the United 
States had scarcely been touched since the days of 
the first Congress, and was very defective and un- 
satisfactory. Mr. Webster's first task, in which 
he received most essential and valuable though 
unacknowledged assistance from Judge Story, was 
to codify and digest the whole body of criminal 
law. This done, the hardly less difficult under- 
taking followed of carrying the measure through 
Congress. In the latter, Mr. Webster, by his 
skill in debate and familiarity with his subject, 
and by his influence in the House, was perfectly 
successful. That he and Judge Story did their 
work well in perfecting the bill is shown by the 
admirable manner in which the Act stood the test 
of time and experience. 

When the new Congress came together in 1825, 
Mr. Webster at once turned his attention to the 
improvement of the Judiciary, which he had been 
obliged to postpone in order to ward off the attacks 



w 

RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



139 



upon the court. After much deliberation and 
thought, aided by Judge Story, and having made 
some concessions to his committee, he brought 
in a bill increasing the Supreme Court judges 
to ten, making ten instead of seven circuits, and 
providing that six judges should constitute a quo- 
rum for the transaction of business. Although 
not a party question, the measure excited much 
opposition, and was more than a month in passing 
through the House. Mr. Webster supported it at 
every stage with great ability, and his two most 
important speeches, which are in their way mod- 
els for the treatment of such a subject, are pre- 
served in his works. The bill was carried by his 
great strength in debate and by weight of forcible 
argument. But in the Senate, where it was de- 
prived of the guardianship of its author, it hung 
along in uncertainty, and was finally lost through 
the apathy or opposition of those very Western 
members for whose benefit it had been devised. 
Mr. Webster took its ultimate defeat very coolly. 
The Eastern States did not require it, and were 
perfectly contented with the existing arrange- 
ments, and he was entirely satisfied with the as- 
surance that the best lawyers and wisest men ap- 
proved the principles of the bill. The time and 
thought which he had expended were not wasted 
so far as he was personally concerned, for they 
served to enhance his influence and reputation 
both as a lawyer and statesman. 



140 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



This session brought with it also occasions for 
debate other than those which were offered by 
measures of purely legislative and practical inter^ 
est. The administration of Mr. Adams marks the 
close of the " era of good feeling," as it was called, 
and sowed the germs of those divisions which were 
soon to result in new and definite party combina- 
tions. Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay represented the 
conservative and General Jackson and his friends 
the radical or democratic elements in the now all- 
embracing Republican party. It was inevitable 
that Mr. Webster should sympathize with the 
former, and it was equally inevitable that in doing 
so he should become the leader of the administra- 
tion forces in the House, where " his great and 
commanding influence,'' to quote the words of an 
opponent, made him a host himself. The desire 
of Mr. Adams to send representatives to the Pan- 
ama Congress, a scheme which lay very near his 
heart and to which Mr. Clay was equally at- 
tached, encountered a bitter and factious resist- 
ance in the Senate, sufficient to deprive the meas- 
ure of any real utility by delaying its passage. In 
the House a resolution was introduced declaring 
simply that it was expedient to appropriate money 
to defray the expenses of the proposed mission. 
The opposition at once undertook by amendments 
to instruct the ministers, and generally to go be- 
yond the powers of the House. The real ground 
of the attack was slavery, threatened, as was sup- 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



141 



posed, by the attitude of the South American re- 
publics — a fact which no one understood or cared 
to recognize. Mr. Webster stood forth as the 
champion of the Executive. In an elaborate 
speech of great ability he denounced the uncon- 
stitutional attempt to interfere with the prerog- 
ative of the President, and discussed with much 
effect the treaty-making power assailed on another 
famous occasion, many years before, by the Souths 
and defended at that time also by the eloquence 
of a representative of Massachusetts. Mr. Web- 
ster showed the nature of the Panama Congress, 
defended its objects and the policy of the admin- 
istration, and made a full and fine exposition of 
the intent of the " Monroe doctrine." The speech 
was an important and effective one. It exhibited 
in an exceptional way Mr. Webster's capacity for 
discussing large questions of public and constitu- 
tional law and foreign policy, and was of essential 
service to the cause which he espoused. It was 
imbued, too, with that sentiment of national unity 
which occupied a larger space in his thoughts with 
each succeeding year, until it finally pervaded his 
whole career as a public man. 

At the second session of the same Congress, 
after a vain effort to confer upon the country the 
benefit of a national bankrupt law, Mr. Webster 
was again called upon to defend the Executive in a 
much more heated conflict than that aroused by 
the Panama resolution. Georgia was engaged in 



142 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



oppressing and robbing the Creek Indians, in open 
contempt of the treaties and obligations of the 
United States. Mr. Adams sent in a message re- 
citing the facts and hinting pretty plainly that he 
intended to carry out the laws by force unless 
Georgia desisted. The message was received with 
great wrath by the Southern members. They 
objected to any reference to a committee, and Mr. 
Forsyth of Georgia declared the whole business to 
be " base and infamous," while a gentleman from 
Mississippi announced that Georgia would act as 
she pleased. Mr. Webster, having said that she 
would do so at her peril, was savagely attacked as 
the organ of the administration, daring to menace 
and insult a sovereign State. This stirred Mr. 
Webster, although slow to anger, to a determina- 
tion to carry through the reference at all hazards. 
He said : — 

" He would tell the gentleman from Georgia that if 
there were rights of the Indians which the United 
States were bound to protect, that there were those in 
the House and in the country who would take their 
part. If we have bound ourselves by any treaty to do 
certain things, we must fulfil sucli obligation. . High 
words will not terrify us, loud declamation will not deter 
us from the discharge of that duty. In my own course 
in this matter I shall not be dictated to by any State or 
the representative of any State on this floor. I shall 
not be frightened from my purpose nor will I suffer 
harsh language to produce any reaction on my mind. I 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



143 



will examine with great and equal care all the rights of 
both parties. ... I have made these few remarks to 
give the gentleman from Georgia to understand that it- 
was not by bold denunciation nor by bold assumption 
that the members of this House are .to be influenced in 
the decision of high public concerns." 

When Mr. Webster was thoroughly roused and 
indignant there was a darkness in his face and a 
gleam of dusky light in his deep-set eyes which 
were not altogether pleasant to contemplate. How 
well Mr. Forsyth and his friends bore the words 
and look of Mr. Webster we have no means of 
knowing, but the message was referred to a select 
committee without a division. The interest to us 
in all this is the spirit in which Mr. Webster 
spoke. He loved the Union as intensely then as 
at any period of his life, bat he was still far dis- 
tant from the frame of mind which induced him 
to think that his devotion to the Union would be 
best expressed and the cause of the Union best 
served by mildness toward the South and rebuke 
to the North. He believed in 1826 that dignified 
courage and firm language were the surest means 
of keeping the peace. He was quite right then, 
and he would have been always right if he had 
adhered to the plain words and determined man- 
ner to which he treated Mr. Forsyth and his 
friends. 

This session was crowded with work of varying 
importance, but the close of Mr. Webster's career 



144 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



in the lower House was near at hand. The fail- 
ing health of Mr. E. H. Mills made it certain that 
Massachusetts would soon have a vacant seat in 
the Senate, and every one turned to Mr. Webster 
as the person above all others* entitled to this 
high office. He himself was by no means so quick 
in determining to accept the position. He would 
not even think of it until the impossibility of Mr. 
Mills's return was assured, and then he had to 
meet the opposition of the administration and all 
its friends, who regarded with alarm the prospect 
of losing such a tower of strength in the House. 
Mr. Webster, indeed, felt that he could render 
the best service in the lower branch, and urged 
the senatorship upon Governor Lincoln, who was 
elected, but declined. After this there seemed to 
be no escape from a manifest destiny. Despite 
the opposition of his friends in Washington, and 
his own reluctance, he finally accepted the office 
of United States senator, which was conferred 
upon him by the Legislature of Massachusetts in 
June, 1827. 

In tracing the labors of Mr. Webster during 
three years spent in the lower House, no allusion 
has been made to the purely political side of his 
career at this time, nor to his relations with the 
public men of the day. The period was important, 
generally speaking, because it showed the first 
signs of the development of new parties, and to 
Mr. Webster in particular, because it brought him 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



145 



gradually toward the political and party position 
which he was to occupy during the rest of his life. 
When he took his seat in Congress, in the autumn 
of 1823, the intrigues for the presidential succes- 
sion were at their height. Mr. Webster was then 
strongly inclined to Mr. Calhoun, as was sus- 
pected at the time of that gentleman's visit to 
Boston. He soon became convinced, however, 
that Mr. Calhoun's chances of success were slight, 
and his good opinion of the distinguished South 
Carolinian seems also to have declined. It was 
out of the question for a man of Mr. Webster's 
temperament and habits of thought, to think for 
a moment of supporting Jackson, a candidate on 
the ground of military glory and unreflecting pop- 
ular enthusiasm. Mr. Adams, as the representative 
of New England, and as a conservative and trained 
statesman, was the natural and proper candidate 
to receive the aid of Mr. Webster. But here 
party feelings and traditions stepped in. The 
Federalists of New England had hated Mr. Adams 
with the peculiar bitterness which always grows 
out of domestic quarrels, whether in public or 
private life ; and although the old strife had sunk 
a little out of sight, it had never been healed. 
The Federalist leaders in Massachusetts still dis- 
liked and distrusted Mr. Adams with an intensity 
none the less real because it was concealed. In 
the nature of things Mr. Webster now occupied a 
position of political independence; but he had 
10 



146 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



been a steady party man when his party was in 
existence, and he was still a party man so far as 
the old Federalist feelings retained vitality and 
force. He had, moreover, but a slight personal 
acquaintance with Mr. Adams and no very cor- 
dial feeling toward him. This disposed of three 
presidential candidates. The fourth was Mr. 
Clay, and it is not very clear why Mr. Webster 
refused an alliance in this quarter. Mr. Clay had 
treated him with consideration, they were per- 
sonal friends, their opinions were not dissimilar 
and were becoming constantly more alike. Pos- 
sibly there was an instinctive feeling of rivalry on 
this very account. At all events, Mr. Webster 
would not support Clay. Only one candidate re- 
mained : Mr. Crawford, the representative of all 
that was extreme among the Republicans, and, in 
a party sense, most odious to the Federalists. But 
it was a time when personal factions flourished 
rankl} 7 in the absence of broad differences of prin- 
ciple. Mr. Crawford was bidding furiously for 
support in every and any quarter, and to Mr. 
Crawford, accordingly, Mr. Webster began to look 
as a possible leader for himself and his friends. 
Just how far Mr. Webster went in this direction 
cannot be readily or surely determined, although 
we get some light on the subject from an attack 
made on Mr. Crawford just at this time. Ninian 
Edwards, recently senator from Illinois, had a 
quarrel with Mr. Crawford, and sent in a memo- 



RjLmm to /Wvft^T. 147 

rial to Congress containing charges against the 
Secretary of the Treasury which were designed 
to break him down as a candidate for the presi- 
dency. Of the merits of this quarrel it is not 
very easy to judge, even if it were important. 
The character of Edwards was none of the best, 
and Mr. Crawford had unquestionably made a 
highly unscrupulous use, politically, of his posi- 
tion. The members of the administration, al- 
though with no great love for Edwards, who had 
been appointed Minister to Mexico, were dis- 
tinctly hostile to Mr. Crawford, and refused to 
attend a dinner from which Edwards had been 
expressly excluded. Mr. Webster's part in the 
affair came from his being on the committee 
charged with the investigation of the Edwards 
memorial. Mr. Adams, who was of course ex- 
cited by the presidential contest, disposed to re- 
gard his rivals with extreme disfavor, and espe- 
cially and justly suspicious of Mr. Crawford, 
speaks of Mr. Webster's conduct in the matter 
with the utmost bitterness. He refers to it again 
and again as an attempt to screen Crawford and 
break down Edwards, and denounces Mr. Web- 
ster as false, insidious, and treacherous. Much of 
this may be credited to the heated animosities of 
the moment, but there can be no doubt that Mr. 
Webster took the matter into his own hands in 
the committee, and made every effort to protect 
Mr. Crawford, in whose favor he also spoke in the 



148 jJ^^IJEZ WEBSZRZ 

House. It is likewise certain that there was an 
attempt to bring about an alliance between Craw- 
ford and the Federalists of the North and East, 
The effort was abortive, and even before the con- 
clusion of the Edwards business Mr. Webster 
avowed that he should take but little part in the 
election, and that his only purpose was to secure 
the best terms possible for the Federalists, and 
obtain recognition for them from the next admin- 
istration. At that time he wished Mr. Mason to 
be attorney-general, and had already turned his 
thoughts toward the English mission for himself. 

To this waiting policy he adhered, but when 
the popular election was over, and the final decis- 
ion had been thrown into the House of Repre- 
sentatives, more definite action became necessary. 
From the questions which he put to his brother 
and others as to the course which he ought to 
pursue in the election by the House, it is obvious 
that he was far from anxious to secure the choice 
of Mr. Adams, and was weighing carefully other 
contingencies. The feeling of New England could 
not, however, be mistaken. Public opinion there 
demanded that the members of the House should 
stand by the New England candidate to the last. 
To this sentiment Mr. Webster submitted, and 
soon afterwards took occasion to have an inter- 
view with Mr. Adams in order to make the best 
terms possible for the Federalists, and obtain for 
them suitable recognition. Mr. Adams assured 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



149 



Mr. Webster that he did not intend to proscribe 
any section or any party, and added that although 
he could not give the Federalists representation 
in the cabinet, he should give them one of the 
important appointments. Mr. Webster was en- 
tirely satisfied with this promise and with all that 
was said by Mr. Adams, who, as everybody knows, 
was soon after elected by the House on the first 
ballot. 

Mr. Adams on his side saw plainly the necessity 
of conciliating Mr. Webster, whose great ability 
and influence he thoroughly understood. He told 
Mr. Clay that he had a high opinion of Mr. Web- 
ster, and wished to win his support ; and the sav- 
age tone displayed in regard to the Edwards affair 
now disappears from the Diary. Mr. Adams, how- 
ever, although he knew, as he says, that " Web- 
ster was panting for the English mission," and 
hinted that the wish might be gratified hereafter^ 
was not ready to go so far at the moment, and 
at the same time he sought to dissuade Mr. Web- 
ster from being a candidate for the speakership, 
for which in truth the latter had no inclination. 
Their relations, indeed, soon grew very pleasant. 
Mr. Webster naturally became the leader of the 
administration forces in the House, while the 
President on his side sought Mr. Webster's ad- 
vice, admired his oration on Adams and Jefferson, 
dined at his house, and lived on terms of friend- 
ship and confidence with him. It is to be feared. 



150 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



however, that all this was merely on the surface. 
Mr. Adams at the bottom of his heart never, in 
reality, relaxed in his belief that Mr. Webster 
was morally unsound. Mr. Webster, on the other 
hand, whose Federalist opposition to Mr. Adams 
had only been temporarily allayed, was not long 
in coming to the conclusion that his services, if 
appreciated, were not properly recognized by the 
administration. There was a good deal of justice 
in this view. The English mission never came, 
no help was to be obtained for Mr. Mason's elec- 
tion as senator from New Hampshire, the speaker- 
ship was to be refused in order to promote har- 
mony and strength in the House. To all this Mr. 
Webster submitted, and fought the battles of the 
administration in debate as no one else could have 
done. . Nevertheless, all men like recognition, and 
Mr. Webster would have preferred something more 
solid than words and confidence or the triumph of 
a common cause. When the Massachusetts sen- 
atorship was in question Mr. Adams urged the 
election of Governor Lincoln, and objected on the 
most flattering grounds to Mr. Webster's with- 
drawal from the House. It is not a too violent 
conjecture to suppose that Mr. Webster's final ac- 
ceptance of a seat in the Senate was due in large 
measure to a feeling that he had sacrificed enough 
for the administration. There can be no doubt 
that coolness grew between the President and the 
Senator, and that the appointment to England, if 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



151 



still desired, never was made, so that when the 
next election came on Mr. Webster was inactive, 
and, despite his hostility to Jackson, viewed the 
overthrow of Mr. Adams with a good deal of in- 
difference and some satisfaction. It is none the 
less true, however, that during these years when 
the first foundations of the future Whig party 
were laid, Mr. Webster formed the political affilia- 
tions which were to last through life. He in- 
evitably found himself associated with Clay and 
Adams, and opposed to Jackson, Benton, and Van 
Buren, while at the same time he and Calhoun 
were fast drifting apart. He had no specially 
cordial feeling to his new associates ; but they 
were at the head of the conservative elements of 
the country, they were nationalists in policy, and 
they favored the views which were most affected 
in New England. As a conservative and nation- 
alist by nature and education, and as the great New 
England leader, Mr. Webster could not avoid be- 
coming the parliamentary chief of Mr. Adams's 
administration, and thus paved the way for leader- 
ship in the Whig party of the future. 

In narrating the history of these years, I have 
confined myself to Mr. Webster's public services 
and political course. But it was a period in his 
career which was crowded with work and achieve- 
ment, bringing fresh fame and increased reputa- 
tion, and also with domestic events both of joy and 
sorrow. Mr. Webster steadily pursued the prac~ 



152 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



tice of the law, and was constantly engaged in the 
Supreme Court. To these years belong many of 
his great arguments, and also the prosecution of the 
Spanish claims, a task at once laborious and prof- 
itable. In the summer of 182-4 Mr. Webster first 
saw Marshfield, his future home, and in the autumn 
of the same year he visited Monticello, where he 
had a long interview with Mr. Jefferson, of whom 
he has left a most interesting description. During 
the winter he formed the acquaintance and lived 
much in the society of some well-known English- 
men then travelling in this country. This party 
consisted of the Earl of Derby, then Mr. Stanley, 
Lord Wharncliffe, then Mr. Stuart Wortley ; Lord 
Taunton, then Mr. Labouchere, and Mr. Denison, 
afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons. 
With Mr. Denison this acquaintance was the 
foundation of a lasting and intimate friendship 
maintained by correspondence. In June, 1825, 
came the splendid oration at Bunker Hill, and 
then a visit to Niagara, which, of course, appealed 
strongly to Mr. Webster. His account of it, how- 
ever, although indicative of a deep mental im- 
pression, shows that his power of describing na- 
ture fell far short of his wonderful talent for pic- 
turing human passions and action. The next 
vacation brought the eulogy on Adams and Jeffer- 
son, when perhaps Mr. Webster may be consid- 
ered to have been in his highest physical and 
intellectual perfection. Such at least was the 
opinion of Mr. Ticknor, who says : — 



RETURN TO CONGRESS. 



153 



" He was in the perfection of manly beauty and 
strength ; his form filled out to its finest proportions, 
and his bearing, as he stood before the vast multitude, 
that of absolute dignity and power. His manner of 
speaking was deliberate and commanding. I never 
heard him when his manner was so grand and appropri- 
ate ; . . . when he ended the minds of men were 
wrought up to an uncontrollable excitement, and then 
followed three tremendous cheers, inappropriate indeed, 
but as inevitable as any other great movement of na- 
ture." 

He had held the vast audience mute for over 
two hours, as John Quincy Adams said in his di- 
ary, and finally their excited feelings found vent in 
cheers. He spoke greatly because he felt greatly. 
His emotions, his imagination, his entire orator- 
ical temperament were then full of quick sensi- 
bility. When he finished writing the imaginary 
speech of John Adams in the quiet of his library 
and the silence of the morning hour, his eyes were 
wet with tears. 

A year passed by after this splendid display of 
eloquence, and then the second congressional pe- 
riod, which had been so full of work and intellect- 
ual activity and well-earned distinction, closed, 
and he entered upon that broader field which 
opened to him in the Senate of the United States, 
where his greatest triumphs were still to be 
achieved. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE TARIFF OF 1828 AND THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 

The new dignity conferred on Mr. Webster by 
the people of Massachusetts had hardly been as- 
sumed when he was called upon to encounter a 
trial which must have made all his honors seem 
poor indeed. He had scarcely taken his seat when 
he was obliged to return to New York, where fail- 
ing health had arrested Mrs. Webster's journey to 
the capital, and where, after much suffering, she 
died, January 21, 1828. The blow fell with ter- 
rible severity upon her husband. He had many 
sorrows to bear during his life, but this surpassed 
all others. His wife was the love of his youth, 
the mother of his children, a lovely woman whose 
strong but gentle influence for good was now lost 
to him irreparably. In his last days his thoughts 
reverted to her, and as he followed her body to the 
grave, on foot in the wet and cold, and leading his 
children by the hand, it must indeed have seemed 
as if the wine of life had been drunk and only the 
lees remained. He was excessively pale, and to 
those who looked upon him seemed crushed and 
heart-broken. 



THE TARIFF OF 1828, 



155 



The only relief was to return to his work and 
to the excitement of public affairs ; but the cloud 
hung over him long after he was once more in his 
place in the Seriate. Death had made a wound in 
his life which time healed but of which the scar 
remained. Whatever were Mr. Webster's faults, 
his affection for those nearest to him, and espe- 
cially for the wife of his youth, was deep and 
strong. 

"The very first day of Mr. Webster's arrival and 
taking his seat in the Senate," Judge Story writes to Mr. 
Ticknor, " there was a process bill on its third reading, 
filled, as he thought, with inconvenient and mischievous 
provisions. He made, in a modest undertone, some in- 
quiries, and, upon an answer being given, he expressed in 
a few words his doubts and fears. Immediately Mr. 
Tazewell from Virginia broke out upon him in a speech 
of two hours. Mr. Webster then moved an adjournment, 
and on the next day delivered a most masterly speech 
in reply, expounding the whole operation of the intended 
act in the clearest manner, so that a recommitment was 
carried almost without an effort. It was a triumph of 
the most gratifying nature, and taught his opponents the 
danger of provoking a trial of his strength, even when 
he was overwhelmed by calamity. In the labors of the 
court he has found it difficult to work himself up to 
high efforts ; but occasionally he comes out with all his 
powers, and when he does, it is sure to attract a brilliant 
audience." 

It would be impossible to give a better picture 
than that presented by Judge Story of Mr, Web- 



156 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ster's appearance and conduct in the month im- 
mediately following the death of his wife. We 
can see how his talents, excited by the conflicts 
of the Senate and the court, struggled, sometimes 
successfully, sometimes in vain, with the sense of 
loss and sorrow which oppressed him. 

He did not again come prominently forward in 
the Senate until the end of April, when he roused 
himself to prevent injustice. The bill for the 
relief of the surviving officers of the Revolution 
seemed on the point of being lost. The object of 
the measure appealed to Mr. Webster's love for 
the past, to his imagination, and his patriotism. 
He entered into the debate, delivered the fine 
and dignified speech which is preserved in his 
works, and saved the bill. 

A fortnight after this he made his famous 
speech on the tariff of 1828, a bill making ex- 
tensive changes in the rates of duties imposed in 
1816 and 1824. This speech marks an important 
change in Mr. Webster's views and in his course 
as a statesman. He now gave up his position as 
the ablest opponent in the country of the protec- 
tive policy, and went over to the support of the 
tariff and the " American system" of Mr. Clay. 
This change, in every way of great importance, 
subjected Mr. Webster to severe criticism both 
then and subsequently. It is, therefore, necessary 
to examine briefly his previous utterances on this 
question in order to reach a correct understanding 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



157 



of his motives in taking this important step and 
to appreciate his reasons for the adoption of a pol- 
icy with which, after the year 1828, he was so 
closely identified. 

When Mr. Webster first entered Congress he 
was a thorough-going Federalist. But the Fed- 
eralists of New England differed from their great 
chief, Alexander Hamilton, on the question of a 
protective policy. Hamilton, in his report on 
manufactures, advocated with consummate ability 
the adoption of the principle of protection for 
nascent industries as an integral and essential part 
of a true national policy, and urged it on its own 
merits, without any reference to its being incident 
to revenue. The New England Federalists, on the 
other hand, coming from exclusively commercial 
communities, were in principle free-traders. They 
regarded with disfavor the doctrine that protec- 
tion was a good thing in itself, and desired it, if at 
all, only in the most limited form and purely as an 
incident to raising revenue. With these opinions 
Mr. Webster was in full sympathy, and he took 
occasion when Mr. Calhoun, in 1814, spoke in 
favor of the existing double duties as a protective 
measure, and also in favor of manufactures, during 
the debate on the repeal of the embargo, to define 
his position on this important question. A few 
brief extracts will show his views, which were ex- 
pressed very clearly and with his wonted ability 
and force. 



158 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



" 1 consider," he said, " the imposition of double du- 
ties as a mere financial measure. Its great object was 
to raise revenue, not to foster manufactures. ... I do 
not say the double duties ought to be continued. I 
think they ought not. But what I particularly object 
to is the holding out of delusive expectations to those 
concerned in manufactures. ... In respect to manufac- 
tures it is necessary to speak with some precision. I 
am not, generally speaking, their enemy. I am their 
friend ; but I am not for rearing them or any other in- 
terest in hot-beds. I would not legislate precipitately, 
even in favor of them ; above all, I would not profess 
intentions in relation to them which I did not purpose to 
execute. I feel no desire to push capital into extensive 
manufactures faster than the general progress of our 
wealth and population propels it. 

" I am not in haste to see Sheffields and Birminghams 
in America. Until the population of the country shall 
be greater in proportion to its extent, such establish- 
ments would be impracticable if attempted, and if prac- 
ticable they would be unwise." 

He then pointed out the inferiority and the 
perils of manufactures as an occupation in com- 
parison with agriculture, and concluded as fol- 
lows : — 

" I am not anxious to accelerate the approach of the 
period when the great mass of American labor shall not 
find its employment in the field ; when the young men 
of the country shall be obliged to shut their eyes upon 
external nature, upon the heavens and the earth, and 
immerse themselves in close and unwholesome work- 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



159 



shops ; when they shall be obliged to shut their ears to 
the bleatings of their own flocks upon their own hills, 
and to the voice of the lark that cheers them at the 
plough, that they may open them in dust and smoke and 
steam to the perpetual whirl of spools and spindles, and 
the grating of rasps and saws. I have made these re- 
marks, sir, not because T perceive any immediate danger 
of carrying our manufactures to an extensive height, but 
for the purpose of guarding and limiting my opinions, 
and of checking, perhaps, a little the high-wrought 
hopes of some who seem to look to our present infant 
establishments for 4 more than their nature or their state 
can bear.' 

" It is the true policy of government to suffer the dif- 
ferent pursuits of society to take their own course, and 
not to give excessive bounties or encouragements to one over 
another. This, also, is the true spirit of the Constitu- 
tion. It has not, in my opinion, conferred on the govern- 
ment the power of changing the occupations of the people 
of different States and sections, and of forcing them into 
other employments. It cannot prohibit commerce any 
more than agriculture, nor manufactures any more than 
commerce. It owes protection to all." 

The sentences in italics constitute a pretty 
strong and explicit statement of the laissez faire 
doctrine, and it will be observed that the tone of 
all the extracts is favorable to free trade and hos- 
tile to protection and even to manufactures in a 
marked degree. We see, also, that Mr. Webster, 
with his usual penetration and justice of percep- 
tion, saw very clearly that uniformity and steadi- 



160 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ness of policy were more essential than even the 
policy itself, and in his opinion were most likely 
to be attained by refraining from protection as 
much as possible. 

When the tariff of 1816 was under discussion 
Mr. Webster made no elaborate speech against it, 
probably feeling that it was hopeless to attempt 
to defeat the measure as a whole, but he devoted 
himself with almost complete success to the task 
of reducing the proposed duties and to securing 
modifications of various portions of the bill. 

In 1820, when the tariff recommended at the 
previous session was about to come before Con- 
gress, Mr. Webster was not in public life. He 
attended, however, a meeting of merchants and 
agriculturists, held in Faneuil Hall iu the summer 
of that year, to protest against the proposed tariff, 
and he spoke strongly in favor of the free trade 
resolutions which were then adopted. He began 
by saying that he was a friend to manufactures, 
but not to the tariff, which he considered as most 
injurious to the country. 

" He certainly thought it might be doubted whether 
Congress would not be acting somewhat against the spirit 
and intention of the Constitution in exercising a power 
to control essentially the pursuits and occupations of in- 
dividuals in their private concerns — a power to force 
great and sudden changes both of occupation and prop- 
erty upon individuals, not as incidental to the exercise of 
any other power, but as a substantial and direct power." 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



161 



It will be observed that he objects to the con- 
stitutionality of protection as a " direct power," 
and in the speech of 1814, in the portion quoted 
in italics, he declared against any general power 
still more forcibly and broadly. It is an impossi- 
ble piece of subtlety and refining, therefore, to 
argue that Mr. Webster always held consistently 
to his views as to the limitations of the revenue 
power as a source of protection, and that he put 
protection in 1828, and subsequently sustained it 
after his change of position, on new and general 
constitutional grounds. In the speeches of 1814 
and 1820 he declared expressly against the doc- 
trine of a general power of protection, saying, in 
the latter instance : — 

" It would hardly be contended that Congress pos- 
sessed that sort of general power by which it might de- 
clare that particular occupations should be pursued in 
society and that others should not. If such poioer 
belonged to any government in this country, it certainly 
did not belong to the general government" 

Mr. Webster took the New England position 
that there was no general power, and having so 
declared in this speech of 1820, he then went on 
to show that protection could only come as inci- 
dental to revenue, and that, even in this way, it 
became unconstitutional when the incident was 
turned into the principle and when protection and 
not revenue was the object of the duties. After 
arguing this point, he proceeded to discuss the 
11 



162 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



general expediency of protection, holding it up as 
a thoroughly mistaken policy, a failure in England 
which that country would gladly be rid of, and 
defending commerce as the truest and best sup- 
port of the government and of general prosperity. 
He took up next the immediate effects of the pro- 
posed tariff, and, premising that it would confess- 
edly cause a diminution of the revenue, said : — 

" In truth, every man in the community not immedi- 
ately benefited by the new duties would suffer a double 
loss. In the first place, by shutting out the former com- 
modity, the price of the domestic manufacture would be 
raised. The consumer, therefore, must pay more for it, 
and insomuch as government will have lost the duty on 
the imported article, a tax equal to that duty must be 
paid to the government. The real amount, then, of this 
bounty on a given article will be precisely the amount 
of the present duty added to the amount of the pro j 
posed duty." 

He then went on to show the injustice which 
would be done to all manufacturers of unprotected 
articles, and ridiculed the idea of the connection 
between home industries artificially developed and 
national independence. He concluded by assail- 
ing manufacturing as an occupation, attacking it 
as a means of making the rich richer and the poor 
poorer; of injuring business by concentrating 
capital in the hands of a few who obtained control 
of the corporations ; of distributing capital less 
widely than commerce ; of breeding up a danger- 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



163 



ous and undesirable population ; and of leading to 
the hurtful employment of women and children. 
The meeting, the resolutions, and the speech were 
all in the interests of commerce and free trade, 
and Mr. Webster's doctrines were on the most 
approved pattern of New England Federalism, 
which, professing a mild friendship for manufac- 
tures and unwillingly conceding the minimum of 
protection solely as an incident to revenue, was, 
at bottom, thoroughly hostile to both. In 1820 
Mr. Webster stood forth, both politically and con- 
stitutionally, as a free-trader, moderate but at the 
same time decided in his opinions. 

When the tariff of 1824 was brought before 
Congress and advocated with great zeal by Mr. 
Clay, who upheld it as the " American system," 
Mr. Webster opposed the policy in the fullest and 
most elaborate speech he had yet made on the 
subject. A distinguished American economist, 
Mr. Edward Atkinson, has described this speech 
of 1824 briefly and exactly in the following 
words : — 

" It contains a refutation of the exploded theory of 
the balance of trade, of the fallacy with regard to the 
exportation of specie, and of the claim that the policy 
of protection is distinctively the American policy which 
can never be improved upon, and it indicates how thor- 
oughly his judgment approved and his better nature 
sympathized with the movement towards enlightened and 
liberal commercial legislation, then already commenced 
in Great Britain." 



164 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



This speech was in truth one of great ability, 
showing a remarkable capacity for questions of 
political economy, and opening with an admirable 
discussion of the currency and of finance, in regard 
to which Mr. Webster always held and advanced 
the soundest, most scientific, and most enlightened 
views. Now, as in 1820, he stood forth as the 
especial champion of commerce, which, as he said, 
had thriven without protection, had brought reve- 
nue to the government and wealth to the country, 
and would be grievously injured by the proposed 
tariff. He made his principal objection to the 
protection policy on the ground of favoritism to 
some interests at the expense of others when all 
were entitled to equal consideration. Of England 
he said, " Because a thing has been wrongly done, 
it does not follow that it can be undone ; and this 
is the reason, as I understand it, for which exclu- 
sion, prohibition, and monopoly are suffered to re- 
main in any degree in the English system." After 
examining at length the different varieties of pro- 
tection, and displaying very thoroughly the state 
of current English opinion, he defined the position 
which he, in common with the Federalists of New 
England, then as always adhered to in the follow- 
ing words : — 

" Protection, when carried to the point which is now 
recommended, that is, to entire prohibition, seems to me 
destructive of all commercial intercourse between na- 
tions. We are urged to adopt the system on general 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



165 



principles ; . • . I do not admit the general principle ; 
on the contrary, I think freedom of trade the general 
principle, and restriction the exception." 

He pointed out that the proposed protective 
policy involved a decline of commerce, and that 
steadiness and uniformity, the most essential req- 
uisites in any policy, were endangered. He then 
with great power dealt with the various points 
summarized by Mr. Atkinson, and concluded with 
a detailed and learned examination of the various 
clauses of the bill, which finally passed by a small 
majority and became law. 

In 1828 came another tariff bill, so bad and so 
extreme in many respects that it was called the 
" bill of abominations." It originated in the agi- 
tation of the woollen manufacturers which had 
started the year before, and for this bill Mr. Web- 
ster spoke and voted. He changed his ground on 
this important question absolutely and entirely, 
and made no pretence of doing anything else. 
The speech which he made on this occasion is a 
celebrated one, but it is so solely on account of 
the startling change of position which it an- 
nounced. Mr. Webster has been attacked and 
defended for his action at this time with great 
zeal, and all the constitutional and economic argu- 
ments for and against protection are continually 
brought forward in this connection. From the 
tone of the discussion, it is to be feared that many 
of those who are interested in the question have 



166 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



not taken the trouble to read what he said. The 
speech of 1828 is by no means equal in any way 
to its predecessors in the same field. It is brief 
and simple to the last degree. It has not a shred 
of constitutional argument, nor does it enter at 
all into a discussion of general principles. It 
makes but one point, and treats that point with 
great force as the only one to be made under the 
circumstances, and thereby presents the single and 
sufficient reason for its author's vote. A few lines 
from the speech give the marrow of the whole 
matter. Mr. Webster said : — 

" New England, sir, has not been a leader in this 
policy. On the contrary, she held back herself and tried 
to hold others back from it, from the adoption of the 
Constitution to 1824. Up to 1824 she was accused of 
sinister and selfish designs, because she discountenanced 
the progress of this policy. . . . Under this angry denun- 
ciation against her the act of 1824 passed. Now the 
imputation is of a precisely opposite character. . . . 
Both charges, sir, are equally without the slightest 
foundation. The opinion of New England up to 1824 
was founded in the conviction that, on the whole, it was 
wisest and best, both for herself and others, that manu- 
factures should make haste slowly. . . - When, at the 
commencement of the late war, duties were doubled, we 
were told that we should find a mitigation of the weight 
of taxation in the new aid and succor which would be 
thus afforded to our own manufacturing labor. Like 
arguments were urged, and prevailed, but not by the 
aid of New England votes, when the tariff was after- 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



167 



wards arranged at the close of the war in 1816. Fi- 
nally, after a winter's deliberation, the act of 1824 re- 
ceived the sanction of both Houses of Congress and 
settled the policy of the country. What, then, was 
New England to do ? . . . Was she to hold out forever 
against the course of the government, and see herself 
losing on one side and yet make no effort to sustain 
herself on the other ? No, sir. Nothing was left to 
New England but to conform herself to the will of 
others. Nothing was left to her but to consider that the 
government had fixed and determined its own policy ; 
and that policy was protection. ... I believe, sir, al- 
most every man from New England who voted against 
the law of 1824 declared that if, notwithstanding his 
opposition to that law, it should still pass, there would 
be no alternative but to consider the course and policy 
of the government as then settled and fixed, and to act 
accordingly. The law did pass ; and a vast increase of 
investment in manufacturing establishments was the con- 
sequence." 

Opinion in New England changed for good 
and sufficient business reasons, and Mr. Web- 
ster changed with it. Free trade had commended 
itself to him as an abstract principle, and he had 
sustained and defended it as in the interest of 
commercial New England. But when the weight 
of interest in New England shifted from free trade 
to protection Mr. Webster followed it. His con- 
stituents were by no means unanimous in support 
of the tariff in 1828, but the majority favored it, 
and Mr. Webster went with the majority. At a 



168 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



public dinner given to him in Boston at the close 
of the session, he explained to the dissentient mi- 
nority the reasons for his vote, which were very 
simple. He thought that good predominated over 
evil in the bill, and that the majority throughout 
the whole State of which he was the representa- 
tive favored the tariff, and therefore he had voted 
in the affirmative. 

Much fault has been found, as has been said, 
both at the time and since, with Mr. Webster's 
change of position on this question. It has been 
held up as a monument of inconsistency, and as 
indicating a total absence of deep conviction. 
That Mr. Webster was, in a certain sense, incon- 
sistent is beyond doubt, but consistency is the bug- 
bear of small minds, as well as a mark of strong 
characters, while its reverse is often the proof of 
wisdom. On the other hand, it may be fairly 
argued that, holding as he did that the whole 
thing was purely a business question to be decided 
according to circumstances, his course, in view of 
the policy adopted by the government, was at 
bottom perfectly consistent. As to the want of 
deep conviction, Mr. Webster's vote on this ques- 
tion proves nothing. He believed in free trade as 
an abstract general principle, and there is no rea- 
son to suppose that he ever abandoned his belief 
on this point. But he had too clear a mind ever 
to be run away with by the extreme vagaries of 
the Manchester school. He knew that there was 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



169 



no morality, no immutable right and wrong, in 
an impost or a free list. It Las been the fash- 
ion to refer to Mr. Disraeli's declaration that free 
trade was " a mere question of expediency " as a 
proof of that gentleman's cynical indifference to 
moral principles. That the late Earl of Beacons- 
field had no deep convictions on any subject may 
be readily admitted, but in this instance he uttered 
a very plain and simple truth, which all the talk 
in the world about free trade as the harbinger and 
foundation of universal peace on earth cannot dis- 
guise. 

Mr. Webster never at any time treated the 
question of free trade or protection as anything 
but one of expediency. Under the lead of Mr. 
Calhoun, in 1816, the South and West initiated a 
protective policy, and after twelve years it had 
become firmly established and New England had 
adapted herself to it. Mr. Webster, as a New 
England representative, resisted the protective 
policy at the outset as against her interests, but 
when she had conformed to the new conditions, he 
came over to its support simply on the ground of 
expediency. He rested the defence of his new 
position upon the doctrine which he had always 
consistently preached, that uniformity and perma- 
nency were the essential and sound conditions of 
any policy, whether of free trade or protection. 
In 1828, neither at the dinner in Boston nor in 
the Senate, did he enter into any discussion of 



170 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



general principles or constitutional theories. He 
merely said, in substance, You have chosen to 
make protection necessary to New England, and 
therefore I am now forced to vote for it. This 
was the position which he continued to hold to 
the end of his life. As he was called upon, year 
after year, to defend protection, and as New Eng- 
land became more and more wedded to the tariff, 
he elaborated his arguments on many points, but 
the essence of all he said afterwards is to be found 
in the speech of 1828. On the constitutional 
point he was obliged to make a more violent 
change. He held, of course, to his opinion that, 
under the revenue power, protection could be in- 
cidental only, because from that doctrine there 
was no escape. But he dropped the condemna- 
tion expressed in 1814 and the doubts uttered in 
1820 as to the theory that it was within the direct 
power of Congress to enact a protective tariff, and 
assumed that they had this right as one of the 
general powers in the Constitution, or that at all 
events they had exercised it, and that therefore 
the question was henceforward to be considered 
as res adjudicata. The speech of 1828 marks the 
separation of Mr. Webster from the opinions of 
the old school of New England Federalism. 
Thereafter he stood forth as the champion of the 
tariff and of the " American system " of Henry 
Clay. Regarding protection in its true light, as 
a mere question of expediency, he followed the 



THE TARIFF OF 1828. 



171 



interests of New England and of the great indus- ■ 
trial communities of the North. That he shifted 
his ground at the proper moment, bad as the " bill 
of abominations " was, and that, as a Northern 
statesman, he was perfectly justified in doing so, 
cannot be fairly questioned or criticised. It is 
true that his course was a sectional one, but every- 
body else's on this question was the same, and it 
could not be, it never has been, and never will be 
otherwise. 

The tariff of 1828 was destined indirectly to 
have far more important results to Mr. Webster 
than the brief speech in which he signalized his 
change of position on the question of protection. 
Soon after the passage of the act, in May, 1828, 
the South Carolina delegation held a meeting to 
take steps to resist the operation of the tariff, but 
nothing definite was then accomplished. Popu- 
lar meetings in South Carolina, characterized by 
much violent talk, followed, however, during the 
summer, and in the autumn the Legislature of the 
State put forth the famous " exposition and pro- 
test " which emanated from Mr. Calhoun, and 
embodied in the fullest and strongest terms the 
principles of " nullification." These movements 
were viewed with regret and with some alarm 
throughout the country, but they were rather lost 
sight of in the intense excitement of the presi- 
dential election. The accession of Jackson then 
came to absorb the public attention, and brought 



172 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



with it the sweeping removals from office whi^h 
Mr. Webster strongly denounced. At the same 
time he was not led into the partisan absurdity of 
denying the President's power of removal, and 
held to the impregnable position of steady resist- 
ance to the evils of patronage, which could be 
cured only by the operation of an enlightened 
public sentiment. It is obvious now that, in the 
midst of all this agitation about other matters, 
Mr. Calhoun and the South Carolinians never lost 
sight of the conflict for which they were prepar- 
ing, and that they were on the alert to bring nulli- 
fication to the front in a more menacing and 
pronounced fashion than had yet been attempted. 

The grand assault was finally made in the Sen- 
ate, under the eye of the great nullifier, who then 
occupied the chair of the Vice-President, and 
came in an unexpected way. In December, 1829, 
Mr. Foote of Connecticut introduced a harmless 
resolution of inquiry respecting the sales and sur- 
veys of the Western lands. In the long-drawn 
debate which ensued, General Hayne of South 
Carolina, on January 19, 1830, made an elaborate 
attack on the New England States. He accused 
them of a desire to check the growth of the West 
in the interests of the protective policy, and tried 
to show the sympathy which should exist between 
the West and South, and lead them to make com- 
mon cause against the tariff. Mr. Webster felt 
that this attack could not be left unanswered, and 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



173 



the next day he replied to it. This first speech 
on Foote's resolution has been so obscured by the 
greatness of the second that it is seldom referred 
to and but little read. Yet it is one of the most 
effective retorts, one of the strongest pieces of 
destructive criticism, ever uttered in the Senate, 
although its purpose was simply to repel the 
charge of hostility to the West on the part of New 
England. The accusation was in fact absurd, and 
but few years had elapsed since Mr. Webster and 
New England had been assailed by Mr. McDuffie 
for desiring to build up the West at the expense 
of the South by the policy of internal improve- 
ments. It was not difficult, therefore, to show the 
groundlessness of this new attack, but Mr. Web- 
ster did it with consummate art and great force, 
shattering Hayne's elaborate argument to pieces 
and treading it under foot. Mr. Webster only al- 
luded incidentally to the tariff agitation in South 
Carolina, but the crushing nature of the reply 
inflamed and mortified Mr. Hayne, who, on the 
following day, insisted on Mr. Webster's presence, 
and spoke for the second time at great length. 
He made a bitter attack upon New England, upon 
Mr. Webster personally, and upon the character 
and patriotism of Massachusetts. He then made 
a full exposition of the doctrine of nullification, 
giving free expression of the views and principles 
entertained by his master and leader, who pre- 
sided over the discussion. The debate had now 



174 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



drifted far from the original resolution, but its 
real object had been reached at last. The war 
upon the tariff had been begun, and the standard 
of nullification and of resistance to the Union and 
to the laws of Congress had been planted boldly 
in the Senate of the United States. The debate 
was adjourned and Mr. Hayne did not conclude till 
January 25. The next day Mr. Webster replied in 
the second speech on Foote's resolution, which is 
popularly known as the " Reply to Hayne." 
^ This great speech marks the highest point at- 
tained by Mr. Webster as a public man. He 
never surpassed it, he never equalled it after- 
wards. It was his zenith intellectually, politi- 
cally, and as an orator. His fame grew and 
extended in the years which followed, he won 
ample distinction in other fields, he made many 
other splendid speeches, but he never went beyond 
the reply which he made to the Senator from 
South Carolina on January 26, 1830. 

The doctrine of nullification, which was the 
main point both with Hayne and Webster, was no 
new thing. The word was borrowed from the 
Kentucky resolutions of 1799, and the principle 
was contained in the more cautious phrases of 
the contemporary Virginia resolutions and of the 
Hartford Convention in 1814. The South Caro- 
linian reproduction in 1830 was fuller and more 
elaborate than its predecessors and supported by 
more acute reasoning, but the principle was un- 



THE REPLY TO EAYNE. 



175 



changed. Mr. Webster's argument was simple but 
overwhelmin g. H e admitted fully the righ t of rev- 
olution. He_acce£ted_J he proposition that no one 
was bound to obey an unconstitutional law ; but 
the essential q uestion was who was to say whe ther 
a law was unconstitutional or not. E ach S t ate has 
that authority, was the reply of the nullifW^ and 
if the decision is against the vali dity of the law it 
cannot be executed within the limits of the d is- 
sent ing State d Tile vigorous sarcasm with whic h 
Mr. Web ster depict ed practical nullification, and 
show ed that it was nothing more or less than rev- 
olution when actually carried out, was really the 
conclusive answer to the nullifying doctrine . But 
Mr. Calhoun and his s chool eagerly d ei rjprl that . 
nullification rested on the right to re volt against 
oppression. T hey argued tha : p t_w as aT constitu - 
tion al rig ht ; thait^ they could live within the Co ik. 
stitution and beyond it , — i nside the house and out- 
side it at one and the same time. Theyjcontended 
thatj the Constitution being a compact between 
t he States, the Federal governm ent was the creation 
of the Sta tesjy et, in the s ame breath, they de- 
clared that the general government w as a par ty to 
the^con tract from which i t had itself emanated, in 
order to get rid of the difficulty of proving that, 
while the single dissenting State could decide 
against the validity of a law, the twenty or more 
other States, also parties to the contract, had no 
right to deliver an opposite judgment which 



176 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



should be binding as the opinion of the majority 
of the court. There was nothing very ingenious 
or very profound in the argument by which Mr. 
Webster demonstrated the absurdity of the doc- 
trine which attempted to make nullification a 
peaceable constitutional privilege, when it could 
be in practice nothing else than revolution. But 
the manner in which he put the argument was 
magnificent and final. As he himself said, in this 
very speech, of Samuel Dexter, "his statement 
was argument, his inference demonstration." 

The weak places in his armor were historical 
in their nature. It was probably necessary, at all 
events Mr. "Webster felt it to be so, to argue that 
the Constitution at the outset was not a compact 
between the States, but a national instrument, 
and to distinguish the cases of Virginia and Ken- 
tucky in 1799 and of New England in 1814, from 
that of South Carolina in 1830. The former point 
he touched upon lightly, the latter he discussed 
ably, eloquently, ingeniously, and at length. Un- 
fortunately the facts were against him in both in- 
stances. When the Constitution was adopted by 
the votes of States at Philadelphia, and accepted 
by the votes of States in popular conventions, it 
is safe to say that there was not a man in the 
country from Washington and Hamilton on the 
one side, to George Clinton and George Mason on 
the other, who regarded the new system as any- 
thing but an experiment entered upon by the 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



177 



States and from which each and every State had 
the right peaceably to withdraw, a right which 
was very likely to be exercised. When the Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky resolutions appeared they 
were not opposed on constitutional grounds, but 
on those of expediency and of hostility to the rev- 
olution which they were considered to embody. 
Hamilton, and no one knew the Constitution bet- 
ter than he, treated them as the beginnings of an 
attempt to change the government, as the germs 
of a conspiracy to destroy the Union. As Dr. 
Von Hoist tersely and accurately states it, " there 
was no time as yet to attempt to strangle the 
healthy human mind in a net of logical deduc- 
tions." That was the work reserved for John C. 
Calhoun. 

What is true of 1799 is true of the New Eng- 
land leaders at Washington when they discussed 
the feasibility of secession in 1804 ; of the decla- 
ration in favor of secession made by Josiah Quincy 
in Congress a few years later ; of the resistance of 
New England during the war of 1812, and of the 
right of " interposition " set forth by the Hart- 
ford Convention. In all these instances no one 
troubled himself about the constitutional aspect ; 
it was a question of expediency, of moral and po- 
litical right or wrong. In every case the right 
was simply stated, and the uniform answer was, 
such a step means the overthrow of the present 
system. 

12 



178 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



When South Carolina began her resistance to 
the tariff in 1830, times had changed, and with 
them the popular conception of the government 
established by the Constitution. It was now a 
much more serious thing to threaten the existence 
of the Federal government than it had been in 
1799, or even in 1814. The great fabric which 
had been gradually built up made an overthrow 
of the government look very terrible ; it made 
peaceable secession a mockery, and a withdrawal 
from the Union equivalent to civil war. The 
boldest hesitated to espouse any principle which 
was avowedly revolutionary, and on both sides 
men wished to have a constitutional defence for 
every doctrine which they promulgated. This 
was the feeling which led Mr. Calhoun to elabo- 
rate and perfect with all the ingenuity of his acute 
and logical mind the arguments in favor of nullifi- 
cation as a constitutional principle. At the same 
time the theory of nullification, however much 
elaborated, had not altered in its essence from the 
bald and brief statement of the Kentucky resolu- 
tions. The vast change had come on the other 
side of the question, in the popular idea of the 
Constitution. It was no longer regarded as an 
experiment from which the contracting parties 
had a right to withdraw, but as the charter of a 
national government. " It is a critical moment," 
said Mr. Bell of New Hampshire to Mr. Webster, 
on the morning of January 26, " and it is time, it 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE, 



179 



is high time that the people of this country should 
know what this Constitution zV " Then," an- 
swered Mr. Webster, " by the blessing of heaven 
they shall learn, this day, before the sun goes 
down, what I understand it to be." With these 
words on his lips he entered the senate chamber, 
and when he replied to Hayne he stated what the 
Union and the government had come to be at that 
moment. He defined the character of the Union 
as it existed in 1830, and that definition so mag- 
nificently stated, and with such grand eloquence, 
went home to the hearts of the people, and put 
into noble words the sentiment which they felt 
but had not expressed. This was the signifi- 
cance of the reply to Hayne. It mattered not 
what men thought of the Constitution in 1789. 
The government which was then established 
might have degenerated into a confederation little 
stronger than its predecessor. But the Constitu- 
tion did its work better, and converted a confed- 
eracy into a nation. Mr. Webster set forth the 
national conception of the Union. He expressed 
what many men were vaguely thinking and be- 
lieving, and the principles which he made clear 
and definite went on broadening and deepening 
until, thirty years afterwards, they had a force 
sufficient to sustain the North and enable her to 
triumph in the terrible struggle which resulted in 
the preservation of national life. When Mr. 
Webster showed that practical nullification was 



180 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



revolution, he had answered completely the South 
Carolinian doctrine, for revolution is not suscepti- 
ble of constitutional argument. But in the state 
of public opinion at that time it was necessary to 
discuss nullification on constitutional grounds also, 
and Mr. Webster did this as eloquently and ably 
as the nature of the case admitted. Whatever the 
historical defects of his position, he put weapons 
into the hands of every friend of the Union, and 
gave reasons and arguments to the doubting and 
timid. Yet after all is said, the meaning of Mr. 
Webster's speech in our history and its signifi- 
cance to us are, that it set forth with every attri- 
bute of eloquence the nature of the Union as it 
had developed under the Constitution. He took 
the vague popular conception and gave it life and 
form and character. He said, as he alone could 
say, the people of the United States are a nation, 
they are the masters of an empire, their union is 
indivisible, and the words which then rang out 
in the senate chamber have come down through 
long years of political conflict and of civil war, 
until at last they are part of the political creed of 
every one of his fellow-countrymen. 

The reply to Hayne cannot, however, be dis- 
missed with a consideration of its historical and 
political meaning or of its constitutional signifi- 
cance. It has a personal and literary importance 
of hardly less moment. There comes an occasion, 
a period perhaps, in the life of every man when 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



181 



he touches his highest point, when he does his 
best, or even, under a sudden inspiration and ex- 
citement, something better than his best, and to 
which he can never again attain. At the moment 
it is often impossible to detect this point, but when 
the man and his career have passed into history, 
and we can survey it all spread out before us like 
a map, the pinnacle of success can easily be dis- 
covered. The reply to Hayne was the zenith of 
Mr. Webster's life, and it is the place of all others 
where it is fit to pause and study him as a parlia- 
mentary orator and as a master of eloquence. 

Before attempting, however, to analyze what 
he said, let us strive to recall for a moment the 
scene of his great triumph. On the morning of 
the memorable day, the senate chamber was packed 
by an eager and excited crowd. Every seat on the 
floor and in the galleries was occupied, and all the 
available standing-room was filled. The protracted 
debate, conducted with so much ability on both 
sides, had excited the attention of the whole 
country, and had given time for the arrival of 
hundreds of interested spectators from all parts 
of the Union, and especially from New England, 
The fierce attacks of the Southern leaders had 
angered and alarmed the people of the North. 
They longed with an intense longing to have 
these assaults met and repelled, and yet they 
could not believe that this apparently desperate 
feat could be successfully accomplished. Men of 



182 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



the North and of New England could be known 
in Washington, in those days, by their indignant 
but dejected looks and downcast eyes. They 
gathered in the senate chamber on the appointed 
day, quivering with anticipation, and with hope 
and fear struggling for the mastery in their 
breasts. With them were mingled those who 
were there from mere curiosity, and those who 
had come rejoicing in the confident expectation 
that the Northern champion would suffer failure 
and defeat. 

In the midst of the hush of expectation, in that 
dead silence which is so peculiarly oppressive be- 
cause it is possible only when many human beings 
are gathered together, Mr. Webster rose. He had 
sat impassive and immovable during all the pre- 
ceding days, while the storm of argument and in- 
vective had beaten about his head. At last his 
time had come ; and as he rose and stood forth, 
drawing himself up to his full height, his personal 
grandeur and his majestic calm thrilled all who 
looked upon him. With perfect quietness, un- 
affected apparently by the atmosphere of intense 
feeling about him, he said, in a low, even tone : 
c,< Mr. President : When the mariner has been 
tossed for many days in thick weather and on 
an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of 
the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance 
of the sun, to take his latitude and ascertain how 
far the elements have driven him from his true 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



183 



course. Let us imitate this prudence ; and, before 
we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer 
to the point from which we departed, that we may, 
at least, be able to conjecture where we now are. 
I ask for the reading of the resolution before the 
Senate." This opening sentence was a piece of 
consummate art. The simple and appropriate 
image, the low voice, the calm manner, relieved 
the strained excitement of the audience, which 
might have ended by disconcerting the speaker if 
it had been maintained. Every one was now at 
his ease ; and when the monotonous reading of the 
resolution ceased Mr. Webster was master of the 
situation, and had his listeners in complete control. 
With breathless attention they followed him as 
he proceeded. The strong masculine sentences, 
the sarcasm, the pathos, the reasoning, the burn- 
ing appeals to love of State and country, flowed on 
unbroken. As his feelings warmed the fire came 
into his eyes ; there was a glow on his swarthy 
cheek; his strong right arm seemed to sweep 
away resistlessly the whole phalanx of his oppo- 
nents, and the deep and melodious cadences of his 
^oice sounded like harmonious organ-tones as they 
filled the chamber with their music. As the last 
fvords died away into silence, those who had list- 
ened looked wonderingly at each other, dimly con- 
scious that they had heard one of the grand speeches 
which are land-marks in the history of eloquence ; 
and the men of the North and of New England 



184 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



went forth full of the pride of victory, for their 
champion had triumphed, and no assurance was 
needed to prove to the world that this time no 
answer could be made. 

As every one knows, this speech contains much 
more than the argument against nullification, 
which has just been discussed, and exhibits all its 
author's intellectual gifts in the highest perfec- 
tion. Mr. Hayne had touched on every conceiv- 
able subject of political importance, including 
slavery, which, however covered up, was really 
at the bottom of every Southern movement, and 
was certain sooner or later to come to the surface. 
All these various topics Mr. Webster took up, 
one after another, displaying a most remarkable 
strength of grasp and ease of treatment. He dealt 
with them all effectively and yet in just propor- 
tion. Throughout there are bursts of eloquence 
skilfully mingled with statement and argument, 
so that the listeners were never wearied by a 
strained and continuous rhetorical display ; and 
yet, while the attention was closely held by the 
even flow of lucid reasoning, the emotions and 
passions were from time to time deeply aroused 
and strongly excited. In many passages of direct 
retort Mr. Webster used an irony which he em- 
ployed always in a perfectly characteristic way. 
He had a strong natural sense of humor, but he 
never made fun or descended to trivial efforts to 
excite laughter against his opponent. He was not 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



185 



a witty man or a maker of epigrams. But lie was 
a master in the use of a cold, dignified sarcasm, 
which at times, and in this instance particularly, 
he used freely and mercilessly. Beneath the 
measured sentences there is a lurking smile which 
saves them from being merely savage and cutting 
attacks, and yet brings home a keen sense of the 
absurdity of the opponent's position. The weapon 
resembled more the sword of Richard than the 
scimetar of Saladin, but it was none the less a 
keen and trenchant blade. There is probably no 
better instance of Mr. Webster's power of sarcasm 
than the famous passage in which he replied to 
Hayne's taunt about the " murdered coalition," 
which was said to have existed between Adams 
and Calhoun. In a totally different vein is the 
passage about Massachusetts, perhaps in its way 
as good an example as we have of Webster's 
power of appealing to the higher and more tender 
feelings of human nature. The thought is simple 
and even obvious, and the expression unadorned, 
and yet what he said had that subtle quality 
which stirred and still stirs the heart of every 
man born on the soil of the old Puritan Common- 
wealth. 

The speech as a whole has all the qualities 
which made Mr. Webster a great orator, and the 
same traits run through his other speeches. An 
analysis of the reply to Hayne, therefore, gives us 
all the conditions necessary to forming a correct 



186 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



idea of Mr. Webster's eloquence, of its character- 
istics and its value. The Attic school of oratory 
subordinated form to thought to avoid the misuse 
of ornament, and triumphed over the more florid 
practice of the so-called " Asiatics." Rome gave 
the palm to Atticism, and modern oratory has 
gone still farther in the same direction, until its 
predominant quality has become that of making 
sustained appeals to the understanding. Logical 
vigilance and long chains of reasoning, avoided 
by the ancients, are the essentials of our modern 
oratory. Many able men have achieved success 
under these conditions as forcible and convincing 
speakers. But the grand eloquence of modern 
times is distinguished by the bursts of feeling, of 
imagery or of invective, joined with convincing 
argument. This combination is rare, and when- 
ever we find a man who possesses it we may be 
sure that, in greater or less degree, he is one of 
the great masters of eloquence as we understand 
it. The names of those who in debate or to a 
jury have been in every-day practice strong and 
effective speakers, and also have thrilled and 
shaken large masses of men, readily occur to us. 
To this class belong Chatham and Burke, Fox, 
Sheridan and Erskine, Mirabeau and Vergniaud, 
Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster. 

Mr. Webster was of course essentially modern 
in his oratory. He relied chiefly on the sustained 
appeal to the understanding, and he was a con- 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



187 



spicuous example of the prophetic character which 
Christianity, and Protestantism especially, has 
given to modern eloquence. At the same time 
Mr. Webster was in some respects more classical, 
and resembled more closely the models of antiq- 
uity, than any of those who have been mentioned 
as belonging to the same high class. He was wont 
to pour forth the copious stream of plain, intelli- 
gible observations, and indulge in the varied ap- 
peals to feeling, memory, and interest, which Lord 
Brougham sets down as characteristic of ancient 
oratory. It has been said that while Demosthe- 
nes was a sculptor, Burke was a painter. Mr. 
Webster was distinctly more of the former than 
the latter. He rarely amplified or developed an 
image or a description, and in this he followed the 
Greek rather than the Englishman. Dr. Francis 
Lieber wrote: " To test Webster's oratory, which 
has ever been very attractive to me, I read a por- 
tion of my favorite speeches of Demosthenes, and 
then read, always aloud, parts of Webster; then 
returned to the Athenian ; and Webster stood the 
test." Apart from the great compliment which 
this conveys, such a comparison is very interesting 
as showing the similarity between Mr. Webster 
and the Greek orator. Not only does the test in- 
dicate the merit of Mr. Webster's speeches, but it 
also proves that he resembled the Athenian, and 
that the likeness was more striking than the inev- 
itable difference born of race and time. Yet there 



188 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



\ 



is no indication that Webster ever made a study 
of the ancient models or tried to form himself 
upon them. 

The cause of the classic self-restraint in Web- 
ster was partly due to the artistic sense which 
made him so devoted to simplicity of diction, and 
partly to the cast of his mind. He had a power- 
ful historic imagination, but not in the least the 
imagination of the poet, which 

" Bodies forth the forms of things unknown." 

He could describe with great vividness, brev- 
ity, and force what had happened in the past, 
what actually existed, or what the future prom- 
ised. But his fancy never ran away with him or 
carried him captive into the regions of poetry. 
Imagination of this sort is readily curbed and 
controlled, and, if less brilliant, is safer than that 
defined by Shakespeare. For this reason, Mr. 
Webster rarely indulged in long, descriptive pas- 
sages, and, while he showed the highest power in 
treating anything with a touch of humanity about 
it, he was sparing of images drawn wholly from 
nature, and was not peculiarly successful in de- 
picting in words natural scenery or phenomena. 
The result is, that in his highest flights, while he 
is often grand and affecting, full of life and power, 
he never shows the creative imagination. But if 
he falls short on the poetic side, there is the coun- 
terbalancing advantage that there is never a false 



THE REPLY TO EAYNE. 



189 



note nor an overwrought description which offends 
our taste and jars upon our sensibilities. 

Mr. Webster showed his love of direct sim- 
plicity in his style even more than in his thought 
or the general arrangement and composition of 
his speeches. His sentences are. as a rule, short, 
and therefore pointed and intelligible, but they 
never become monotonous and harsh, the fault to 
which brevity is always liable. On the contrary, 
they are smooth and flowing, and there is always 
a sufficient variety of form. The choice of lan- 
guage is likewise simple. Mr. Webster was a 
remorseless critic of his own style, and he had an 
almost extreme preference for Anglo-Saxon words 
and a corresponding dislike of Latin derivatives. 
The only exception he made was in his habit of 
using " commence " instead of its far superior 
synonym " begin." His style was vigorous, clear, 
and direct in the highest degree, and at the same 
time warm and full of vitality. He displayed 
that rare union of strength with perfect simplic- 
ity, the qualities which made Swift the great mas- 
ter of pure and forcible English. 

Charles Fox is credited with saying that a good 
speech never reads well. This opinion, taken in 
the sense in which it was intended, that a care- 
fully-prepared speech, which reads like an essay, 
lacks the freshness and glow that should charac- 
terize the oratory of debate, is undoubtedly cor- 
rect. But it is equally true that when a speech 



190 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



which we know to have been good in delivery is 
equally good in print, a higher intellectual plane 
is reached and a higher level of excellence is at- 
tained than is possible to either the mere essay or 
to the effective retort or argument, which loses 
its flavor with the occasion which draws it forth. 
Mr. Webster's speeches on the tariff, on the 
bank, and on like subjects, able as they are, are 
necessarily dry, but his speeches on nobler themes 
are admirable reading. This is, of course, due to 
the variety and ease of treatment, to their power, 
and to the purity of the style. At the same time, 
the immediate effect of what he said was immense, 
greater, even, than the intrinsic merit of the 
speech itself. There has been much discussion as 
to the amount of preparation which Mr. Webster 
made. His occasional orations were, of course, 
carefully written out beforehand, a practice which 
was entirely proper ; but in his great parliamen- 
tary speeches, and often in legal arguments as 
well, he made but slight preparation in the ordi- 
nary sense of the term. The notes for the two 
speeches on Foote's resolution were jotted down 
on a few sheets of note-paper. The delivery of 
the second one, his masterpiece, was practically 
extemporaneous, and yet it fills seventy octavo 
pages and occupied four hours. He is reported 
to have said that his whole life had been a prepa- 
ration for the reply to Hayne. Whether he said 
it or not, the statement is perfectly true. The 



THE REPLY TO RAYNE. 



191 



thoughts on the Union and on the grandeur of 
American nationality had been garnered up for 
years, and this in a greater or less degree was true 
of all his finest efforts. The preparation on paper 
was trifling, but the mental preparation extend- 
ing over weeks or days, sometimes, perhaps, oyer 
years, was elaborate to the last point. When the 
moment came, a night's work would put all the 
stored-up thoughts in order, and on the next day 
they would pour forth with all the power of a 
strong mind thoroughly saturated with its subject, 
and yet with the vitality of unpremeditated ex- 
pression, having the fresh glow of morning upon 
it, and with no trace of the lamp. 

More than all this, however, in the immediate 
effect of Mr. Webster's speeches was the physical 
influence of the man himself. We can but half 
understand his eloquence and its influence if we 
do not carefully study his physical attributes, 
his temperament and disposition. In face, form, 
and voice, nature did her utmost for Daniel Web- 
ster. No envious fairy was present at his birth to 
mar these gifts by her malign influence. He 
seemed to every one to be a giant ; that, at least, 
is the word we most commonly find applied to 
him, and there is no better proof of his enormous 
physical impressiveness than this well-known fact, 
for Mr. Webster was not a man of extraordinary 
stature. He was five feet ten inches in height, 
and, in health, weighed a little less than two hun- 



192 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dred pounds. These are the proportions of a 
large man, but there is nothing remarkable about 
them. We must look elsewhere than to mere size 
to discover why men spoke of Webster as a giant. 
He had a swarthy complexion and straight black 
hair. His head was very large, the brain weigh- 
ing, as is well known, more than any on record, 
except those of Cuvier and of the celebrated 
bricklayer. At the same time his head was of 
noble shape, with a broad and lofty brow, and 
his features were finely cut and full of massive 
strength. His eyes were extraordinary. They 
were very dark and deep-set, and, when he began 
to rouse himself to action, shone with the deep 
light of a forge-fire, getting ever more glowing as 
excitement rose. His voice was in harmony with 
his appearance. It was low and musical in conver- 
sation ; in debate it was high but full, ringing out 
in moments of excitement like a clarion, and then 
sinking to deep notes with the solemn richness of 
organ-tones, while the words were accompanied by 
a manner in which grace and dignity mingled in 
complete accord. The impression which he pro- 
duced upon the eye and ear it is difficult to ex- 
press. There is no man in all history who came 
into the world so equipped physically for speech. 
In this direction nature could do no more. The 
mere look of the man and the sound of his voice 
made all who saw and heard him feel that he 
must be the embodiment of wisdom, dignity, and 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



193 



strength, divinely eloquent, even if he sat in 
dreamy silence or uttered nothing but heavy com- 
monplaces. 

It is commonly said that no one of the many 
pictures of Mr. Webster gives a true idea of what 
he was. We can readily believe this when we read 
the descriptions which have come down to us. 
That indefinable quality which we call personal 
magnetism, the power of impressing by one's per- 
sonality every human being who comes near, was 
at its height in Mr. Webster. He never, for in- 
stance, punished his children, but when they did 
wrong he would send for them and look at them 
silently. The look, whether of anger or sorrow, 
was punishment and rebuke enough. It was the 
same with other children. The little daughter of 
Mr. Wirt once came into a room where Mr. Web- 
ster was sitting with his back toward her, and 
touched him on the arm. He turned suddenly, 
and the child started back with an affrighted cry 
at the sight of that dark, stern, melancholy face. 
But the cloud passed as swiftly as the shadows on 
a summer sea, and the next moment the look of 
affection and humor brought the frightened child 
into Mr. Webster's arms, and they were friends 
and playmates in an instant. 

The power of a look and of changing expres- 
sion, so magical with a child, was hardly less so 
with men. There have been very few instances 
in history^ where there is such constant reference 

13 



194 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



to merely physical attributes as in the ease of Mr c 
Webster. His general appearance and his eyes 
are the first and last things alluded to in every 
contemporary description. Every one is familiar 
with the story of the English navvy who pointed 
at Mr. Webster in the streets of Liverpool and 
said, " There goes a king." Sidney Smith ex- 
claimed when be saw him, " Good heavens, he is 
a small cathedral by himself." Caiiyle, no lover 
of America, wrote to Emerson : — 

" Not many days ago I saw at breakfast the notablest 
of all your notabilities, Daniel Webster. He is a mag- 
nificent specimen. You might say to ail the world, 
' This is our Yankee Englishman ; such limbs we make 
in Yankee land ! ' As a logic fencer, or parliamentary 
Hercules, one would incline to back him at first sight 
against all the extant world. The tanned complexion ; 
that amorphous crag-like face ; the dull black eyes un- 
der the precipice of brows, like dull anthracite furnaces 
needing only to be blown ; the mastiff mouth accurately 
closed ; I have not traced so much of silent Berserlcir rage 
that I remember of in any man. 1 I guess I should not 
like to be your nigger ! ' Webster is not loquacious, 
but he is pertinent, conclusive ; a dignified, perfectly 
bred man, though not English in breeding ; a man wor- 
thy of the best reception among us, and meeting such I 
understand." 

Such was the effect produced by Mr. Webster 
when in England, and it was a universal impres- 
sion, Wherever he went men felt in the depths 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



195 



of their being the amazing force of his personal 
presence. He could control an audience by a look, 
and could extort applause from hostile listeners 
by a mere glance. On one occasion, after the 7th 
of March speech, there is a story that a noted 
abolitionist leader was present in the crowd gath- 
ered to hear Mr. Webster, and this bitter oppo- 
nent is reported to have said afterwards, " When 
Webster, speaking of secession, asked 'what is to 
become of me,' I was thrilled with a sense of some 
awful impending calamity." The story may be 
apocryphal, but there can be no doubt of its essen- 
tial truth so far as the effect of Mr. Webster's per- 
sonal presence goes. People looked at him, and 
that was enough. Mr. Parton in his essay speaks 
of seeing Webster at a public dinner, sitting at the 
head of the table with a bottle of Madeira under 
his yellow waistcoat, and looking like Jove. When 
he presided at the Cooper memorial meeting in 
New York he uttered only a few stately platitudes, 
and yet every one went away with the firm convic- 
tion that they had beard him speak words of the 
profoundest wisdom and grandest eloquence. 

The temptation to rely on his marvellous phys- 
ical gifts grew on him as he became older, which 
was to be expected with a man of his tempera- 
ment. Even in his earty days, when he was not 
in action, he had an impassible and slumberous 
look ; and when he sat listening to the invective 
of Hayne, no emotion could be traced on his cold, 



196 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dark, melancholy face, or in the cavei-nous eyes 
shining with a dull light. This all vanished when 
he began to speak, and, as he poured forth his 
strong, weighty sentences, there was no lack of 
expression or of movement. But Mr. Webster, 
despite his capacity for work, and his protracted 
and often intense labor, was constitutionally indo- 
lent, and this sluggishness of temperament in- 
creased very much as he grew older. It extended 
from the periods of repose to those of action until, 
in his later years, a direct stimulus was needed to 
make him exert himself. Even to the last the 
mighty power was still there in undiminished 
strength, but it was not willingly put forth. 
Sometimes the outside impulse would not come; 
sometimes the most trivial incident would suffice, 
and like a spark on the train of gunpowder would 
bring a sudden burst of eloquence, electrifying all 
who listened. On one occasion he was arguing a 
case to the jury. He was talking in his heaviest 
and most ponderous fashion, and with half- closed 
eyes. The court and the jurymen were nearly 
asleep as Mr. Webster argued on, stating the law 
quite wrongly to his nodding listeners. The coun- 
sel on the other side interrupted him and called 
the attention of the court to Mr. Webster's pres- 
entation of the law. The judge, thus awakened, 
explained to the jury that the law was not as Mr. 
Webster stated it. While this colloquy was in prog 
ress Mr. Webster roused up, pushed back his thick 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE, 



197 



hair, shook himself, and glanced about him with 
the look of a caged lion. When the judge paused, 
he turned again to the jury, his eyes no longer 
half shut but wide open and glowing with excite- 
ment. Raising his voice, he said, in tones which 
made every one start : " If my client could recover 
under the law as I stated it, how much more is he 
entitled to recover under the law as laid down by 
the court ; " and then, the jury now being thor- 
oughly awake, he poured forth a flood of eloquent 
argument and won his case. In his latter days 
Mr. Webster made many careless and dull speeches 
and carried them through by the power of his look 
and manner, but the time never came when, if 
fairly aroused, he failed to sway the hearts and 
understandings of men by a grand and splendid 
eloquence. The lion slept very often, but it never 
became safe to rouse him from his slumber. 

It was soon after the reply to Hayne that Mr. 
Webster made his great argument for the govern- 
ment in the White murder case. One other ad- 
dress to a jury in the Goodridge case, and the 
defence of Judge Prescott before the Massachu- 
setts Senate, which is of similar character, have 
been preserved to us. The speech for Prescott is 
a strong, dignified appeal to the sober, and yet 
sympathetic, judgment of his hearers, but wholly 
free from any attempt to confuse or mislead, or to 
sway the decision by unwholesome pathos. Under 
the circumstances, which were very adverse to his 



198 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



client, the argument was a model of its kind, and 
contains some very fine passages full of the sol- 
emn force so characteristic of its author. The 
Goodridge speech is chiefly remarkable for the 
ease with which Mr. Webster unravelled a compli- 
cated set of facts, demonstrated that the accuser 
was in reality the guilty party, and carried irre- 
sistible conviction to the minds of the jurors. It 
was connected with a remarkable exhibition of his 
power of cross-examination, which was not only 
acute and penetrating, but extremely terrifying 
to a recalcitrant witness. The argument in the 
White case, as a specimen of eloquence, stands on 
far higher ground than either of the other two, 
and, apart from the nature of the subject, ranks 
with the very best of Mr. Webster's oratorical 
triumphs. The opening of the speech, comprising 
the account of the murder and the analysis of the 
workings of a mind seared with the remembrance 
of a horrid crime, must be placed among the very 
finest masterpieces of modern oratory. The de- 
scription of the feelings of the murderer has a 
touch of the creative power, but, taken in conjunc- 
tion with the wonderful picture of the deed itself, 
the whole exhibits the highest imaginative excel- 
lence, and displays the possession of an extraordi- 
nary dramatic force such as Mr. Webster rarely 
exerted. It has the same power of exciting a 
kind of horror and of making us shudder with a 
creeping, nameless terror as the scene after the 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



199 



murder of Duncan, when Macbeth rushes out from 
the chamber of death, crying, " I have done the 
deed. Didst thou not hear a noise? " I have stud- 
ied this famous exordium with extreme care, and I 
have sought diligently in the works of all the great 
modern orators, and of some of the ancient as well, 
for similar passages of higher merit. My quest 
has been in vain. Mr. Webster's description of 
the White murder, and of the ghastly haunting 
sense of guilt which pursued the assassin, has 
never been surpassed in dramatic force by any 
speaker, whether in debate or before a jury. Per- 
haps the most celebrated descriptive passage in 
the literature of modern eloquence is the picture 
drawn by Burke of the descent of Hyder Ali upon 
the plains of the Carnatic, but even that certainly 
falls short of the opening of Webster's speech in 
simple force as well as in dramatic power. Burke 
depicted with all the ardor of his nature and with 
a wealth of color a great invasion which swept 
thousands to destruction. Webster's theme was 
a cold-blooded murder in a quiet New England 
town. Comparison between such topics, when one 
is so infinitely larger than the other, seems at first 
sight almost impossible. But Mr. Webster also 
dealt with the workings of the human heart under 
the influence of the most terrible passions, and 
those have furnished sufficient material for the 
genius of Shakespeare. The test of excellence is 
in the treatment, and in this instance Mr. Web- 



200 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ster has never been excelled. The effect of that 
exordium, delivered as he alone could have deliv- 
ered it, must have been appalling. He ^as ac- 
cused of having been brought into the case to 
hurry the jury beyond the law and evidence, and 
his whole speech was certainly calculated to drive 
any body of men, terror-stricken by his eloquence, 
wherever he wished them to go. Mr. Webster did 
not have that versatility and variety of eloquence 
which we associate with the speakers who have pro- 
duced the most startling effect upon that complex 
thing called a jury. He never showed that rapid 
alternation of wit, humor, pathos, invective, sub- 
limity, and ingenuity which have been character- 
istic of the greatest advocates. Before a jury as 
everywhere else he was direct and simple. He 
awed and terrified jurymen ; he convinced their 
reason ; but he commanded rather than persuaded, 
and carried them with him by sheer force of elo- 
quence and argument, and by his overpowering 
personality. 

The extravagant admiration which Mr. Web- 
ster excited among his followers has undoubtedly 
exaggerated his greatness in many respects ; but, 
high as the praise bestowed upon him as an ora- 
tor has been, in that direction at least he has cer- 
tainly not been overestimated. The reverse rather 
is true. Mr. Webster was. of course, the great- 
est orator this country has ever produced. Patrick 
Henry's fame rests wholly on tradition. The 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



201 



same is true of Hamilton, who, moreover, never 
had an opportunity adequate to his talents, which 
were unquestionably of the first order. Fisher 
Ames's reputation was due to a single speech 
which is distinctly inferior to many of Webster's. 
Clay's oratory has not stood the test of time ; 
his speeches, which were so wonderfully effective 
when he uttered them, seem dead and cold and 
rather thin as we read them to-day. Calhoun was 
a great debater, but was too dry and hard for the 
highest eloquence. John Quincy Adams, despite 
his physical limitations, carried the eloquence of 
combat and bitter retort to the highest point in 
the splendid battles of his congressional career, 
but his learning, readiness, power of expression, 
argument, and scathing sarcasm were not rounded 
into a perfect whole by the more graceful attri- 
butes which also form an essential part of ora- 
tory. 

Mr. Webster need not fear comparison with any 
of his countrymen, and he has no reason to shun 
it with the greatest masters of speech in England. 
He had much of the grandeur of Chatham, with 
whom it is impossible to compare him or indeed 
any one else, for the Great Commoner lives only 
in fragments of doubtful accuracy. Sheridan 
was universally considered to have made the most 
splendid speech of his day. Yet the speech on the 
Begums as given by Moore does not cast Web- 
ster's best work at all into the shade. Webster 



202 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



did not have Sheridan's brilliant wit, but on the 
other hand he was never forced, never involved, 
never guilty of ornament, which fastidious judges 
would now pronounce tawdry. Webster's best 
speeches read much better than anything of Sheri- 
dan, and, so far as we can tell from careful de- 
scriptions, his manner, look, and deliver} 7 were far 
more imposing. The " manly eloquence " of Fox 
seems to have resembled Webster's more closely 
than that of any other of his English rivals. Fox 
was more fertile, more brilliant, more surprising 
than Webster, and had more quickness and dash, 
and a greater ease and charm of manner. But he 
was often careless, and sometimes fell into repe- 
titions, from which, of course, no great speaker 
can be wholly free any more than he can keep 
entirely clear of commonplaces. Webster gained 
upon him by superior finish and by greater weight 
of argument. Before a jury Webster fell behind 
Erskine as he did behind Choate, although neither 
of them ever produced anything at all comparable 
to the speech on the White murder ; but in the 
Senate, and in the general field of oratory, he 
rises high above them both. The man with whom 
Webster is oftenest compared, and the last to be 
mentioned, is of course Burke. It may be con- 
ceded at once that in creative imagination, and in 
richness of imagery and language, Burke ranks 
above Webster. But no one would ever have said 
of Webster as Goldsmith did of Burke : — 



THE REPLY TO HAYNE. 



203 



" Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, 
And thought of convincing while they thought of dining." 

Webster never sinned by over refinement or 
over ingenuity, for both were utterly foreign to 
his nature. Still less did he impair his power in 
the Senate as Burke did in the Commons by talk> 
ing too often and too much. If he did not have 
the extreme beauty and grace of which Burke was 
capable, he was more forcible and struck harder 
and more weighty blows. He was greatly aided 
in this by his brief and measured periods, and his 
strength was never wasted in long and elaborate 
sentences. Webster, moreover, would never have 
degenerated into the ranting excitement which led 
Burke to draw a knife from his bosom and cast it 
on the floor of the House. This illustrates what 
was, perhaps, Mr. Webster's very strongest point, 
— his absolute good taste. He may have been 
ponderous at times in his later years. We know 
that he was occasionally heavy, pompous, and even 
dull, but he never violated the rules of the nicest 
taste. Other men have been more versatile, pos- 
sessed of a richer imagination and more gorgeous 
style, with a more brilliant wit and a keener sar- 
casm, but there is not one who is so absolutely 
free from faults of taste as Webster, or who is so 
uniformly simple and pure in thought and style, 
even to the point of severity. 1 

1 A volume might be written comparing Mr. "Webster with 
other great orators Only the briefest and most rudimentary 



204 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



It is easy to compare Mr. Webster with this 
and the other great orator, and to select points of 
resemblance and of difference, and show where 
Mr. Webster was superior and where he fell be- 
hind. But the final verdict must be upon all his 
qualities taken together. He had the most ex- 
traordinary physical gifts of face, form, and voice, 
and employed them to the best advantage. Thus 
equipped, he delivered a long series of great 
speeches which can be read to-day with the deep- 
est interest, instruction, and pleasure. He had 
dignity, grandeur, and force, a strong historic 
imagination, and great dramatic power when he 
chose to exert it. He possessed an unerring taste, 
a capacity for vigorous and telling sarcasm, a glow 
and fire none the less intense because they were 
subdued, perfect clearness of statement joined to 
the highest skill in argument, and he was mas- 
ter of a style which was as forcible as it was sim- 
ple and pure. Take him for all in all, he was not 
only the greatest orator this country has ever 
known, but in the history of eloquence his name 
will stand with those of Demosthenes and Cicero, 
of Chatham and Burke. 

treatment of the subject is possible here. A most excellent study 
of the comparative excellence of Webster's eloquence has been 
made by Judge Chamberlain, Librarian of the Boston Public 
Library, in a speech at the dinner of the Dartmouth Alumni, 
which has since been printed as a pamphlet. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON AND THE RISE 
OF THE WHIG PARTY. 

In the year preceding the delivery of his great 
speech Mr. Webster had lost his brother Ezekiel 
by sudden death, and he had married for his sec- 
ond wife Miss Leroy of New York. The former 
event was a terrible grief to him, and taken in 
conjunction with the latter seemed to make a 
complete break with the past, and with its strug- 
gles and privations, its joys and successes. The 
slender girl whom he had married in Salisbury 
church and the beloved brother were both gone, 
and with them went those years of youth in 
which, — 

" He had sighed deep, laughed free, 
Starved, feasted, despaired, been happy/' 

One cannot come to this dividing line in Mr. Web- 
ster's life without regret. There was enough of 
brilliant achievement and substantial success in 
what had gone before to satisfy any man, and it 
had been honest, simple, and unaffected. A wider 
fame and a greater name lay before him, but with 
them came also ugly scandals, bitter personal at- 



206 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



tacks, an ambition which warped his nature, and 
finally a terrible mistake. One feels inclined to 
say of these later years, with the Roman lover : — 

" Shut them in 
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest, 
Love is best." 

The home changed first, and then the public 
career. The reply which, as John Quincy Adams 
said, " utterly demolished the fabric of Hayne's 
speech and left scarcely a wreck to be seen," went 
straight home to the people of the North. It gave 
eloquent expression to the strong but undefined 
feeling in the popular mind. It found its way into 
every house and was read everywhere ; it took its 
place in the school books, to be repeated by shrill 
boy voices, and became part of the literature and 
of the intellectual life of the country. In those 
solemn sentences men read the description of what 
the United States had come to be under the Con- 
stitution, and what American nationality meant 
in 1830. The leaders of the young war party in 
1812 were the first to arouse the national senti- 
ment, but no one struck the chord with such a 
master hand as Mr. Webster, or drew forth such 
long and deep vibrations. There is no single ut- 
terance in our history which has done so much by 
mere force of words to strengthen the love of 
nationality and implant it deeply in the popular 
heart, as the reply to Hayne. 

Before the delivery of that speech Mr. Webster 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 207 

was a distinguished statesman, but the day after 
he awoke to a national fame which made all his 
other triumphs pale. Such fame brought with it, 
of course, as it always does in this country, talk 
of the presidency. The reply to Hayne made Mr. 
Webster a presidential candidate, and from that 
moment he was never free from the gnawing, 
haunting ambition to win the grand prize of 
American public life. There was a new force in 
his career, and in all the years to come the influ^ 
ence of that force must be reckoned and remem' 
bered. 

Mr. Webster was anxious that the party of op» 
position to General Jackson, which then passed 
by the name of National Republicans, should be 
in some way strengthened, solidified, and placed on 
a broad platform of distinct principles. He saw 
with great regret the ruin which was threatened 
by the anti-masonic schism, and it would seem 
that he was not indisposed to take advantage of 
this to stop the nomination of Mr. Clay, who was 
peculiarly objectionable to the opponents of raa^ 
sonry. He earnestly desired the nomination him' 
self, but even his own friends in the party told 
him that this was out of the question, and he ac- 
quiesced in their decision. Mr. Clay's personal 
popularity, moreover, among the National Repub- 
licans was, in truth, invincible, and he was unam 
imously nominated by the convention at Balti- 
more. The action of the anti-masonic element in 



208 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



the country doomed Clay to defeat, which he was 
likely enough to encounter in any event; but the 
consolidation of the party so ardently desired by 
Mr. Webster was brought about by acts of the 
administration, which completely overcame any 
intestine divisions among its opponents. 

The session of 1831-1832, when the country 
was preparing for the coming presidential elec- 
tion, marks the beginning of the fierce struggle 
with Andrew Jackson which was to give birth to 
a new and powerful organization known in our 
history as the Whig party, and destined, after 
years of conflict, to bring overwhelming defeat to 
the " Jacksonian democracy." There is no occa- 
sion here to enter into a history of the famous 
bank controversy. Established in 1816, the bank 
of the United States, after a period of difficulties, 
had become a powerful and valuable financial or- 
ganization. In 1832 it applied for a continuance 
of its charter, which then had three years still to 
run. Mr. Webster did not enter into the per- 
sonal contest which had already begun, but in a 
speech of great ability advocated a renewal of the 
charter, showing, as he always did on such themes, 
a knowledge and a grasp of the principles and in- 
tricacies of public finance unequalled in our his- 
tory except by Hamilton. In a second speech he 
made a most effective and powerful argument 
against a proposition to give the States author- 
ity to tax the bank, defending the doctrines laid 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 209 

down by Chief Justice Marshall in McCullough 
vs. Maryland, and denying the power of Congress 
to give the States the right of such taxation, be- 
cause by so doing they violated the Constitution. 
The amendment was defeated, and the bill for the 
continuance of the charter passed both Houses 
ft) j large majorities. 

Jackson returned the bill with a veto. He had 
the audacity to rest his veto upon the ground that 
the bill was unconstitutional, and that it was the 
duty of the President t<£ decide upon the constitu- 
tionality of every measure without feeling in the 
least bound by the opinion of Congress or of the 
Supreme Court. His ignorance was so crass that 
he failed to perceive the distinction between a 
new bill and one to continue an existing law, while 
his vanity and his self-assumption were so colossal 
tha^he did not hesitate to assert that he had the 
right and the power to declare an existing law, 
passed by Congress, approved by Madison, and 
held to be constitutional by an express decision 
of the Supreme Court, to be invalid, because he 
thought fit to say so. To overthrow such doc- 
trines was not difficult, but Mr. Webster refuted 
them with a completeness and force which were 
irresistible. At the same time he avoided per- 
sonal attack in the dignified way which was char- 
acteristic of him, despite the extraordinary temp- 
tation to indulge in invective and telling sarcasm 
to which Jackson by his ignorance and presump' 
u 



210 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



tion had so exposed himself. The bill was lost, 
the great conflict with the bank was begun, and 
the Whig party was founded. 

Another event of a different character, which 
had occurred not long before, helped to widen the 
breach and to embitter the contest between the 
parties of the administration and of the opposi- 
tion. When in 1829 Mr. McLane had received 
his instructions as Minister to England, he had 
been directed by Mr. Van Buren to reopen nego- 
tiations on the subject of the West Indian trade, 
and in so doing the Secretary of State had re- 
flected on the previous administration, and had 
said that the party in power would not support 
the pretensions of its predecessors. Such lan- 
guage was, of course, at variance with all tradi- 
tions, was wholly improper, and was mean and 
contemptible in dealing with a foreign nation. 
In 1831 Mr. Van Buren was nominated as Minis- 
ter to England, and came up for confirmation in 
the Senate some time after he had actually de- 
parted on his mission. Mr. Webster opposed the 
confirmation in an eloquent speech full of just 
pride in his country and of vigorous indignation 
against the slight which Mr. Van Buren had put 
upon her by his instructions to Mr. McLane. He 
pronounced a splendid " rebuke upon the first in- 
stance in which an American minister had been 
sent abroad as the representative of his party and 
not as the representative of his country." The 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON, 211 

opposition was successful, and Mr. Van Buren's 
nomination was rejected. It is no doubt true that 
the rejection was a political mistake, and that, as 
was commonly said at the time, it created sympa- 
thy for Mr. Van Buren and insured his succession 
to the presidency. Yet no one would now think 
as well of Mr. Webster if, to avoid awakening 
popular sympathy and party enthusiasm in behalf 
of Mr. Van Buren, he had silently voted for that 
gentleman's confirmation. To do so was to ap- 
prove the despicable tone adopted in the instruc- 
tions to McLane. As a patriotic American, above 
all as a man of intense national feelings, Mr. Web- 
ster could not have done otherwise than resist 
with all the force of his eloquence the confirma- 
tion of a man who had made such an undignified 
and unworthy exhibition of partisanship. Politi- 
cally he may have been wrong, but morally he 
was wholly right, and his rebuke stands in our 
history as a reproach which Mr. Van Buren's 
subsequent success can neither mitigate nor im- 
pair. 

There was another measure, however, which 
had a far different effect from those which tended 
to build up the opposition to Jackson and his fol- 
lowers. A movement was begun by Mr. Clay 
looking to a revision and reduction of the tariff, 
which finally resulted in a bill reducing duties on 
many articles to a revenue standard, and leaving 
those on cotton and woollen goods and iron un- 



212 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



changed. In the debates which occurred during 
the passage of this bill Mr. Webster took but 
little part, but they caused a furious outbreak on 
the part of the South Carolinians led by Hayne, 
and ended in the confirmation of the protective 
policy. When Mr. Webster spoke at the New 
York dinner in 1831, he gave his hearers to under- 
stand very clearly that the nullification agitation 
was not at an end, and after the passage of the 
new tariff bill he saw close at hand the danger 
which he had predicted. 

In November, 1832, South Carolina in conven- 
tion passed her famous ordinance nullifying the 
revenue laws of the United States, and her Legis- 
lature, which assembled soon after, enacted laws to 
carry out the ordinance, and gave an open defi- 
ance to the Federal govern ment. The country 
was filled with excitement. It was known that 
Mr. Calhoun, having published a letter in defence 
of nullification, had resigned the vice-presidency, 
accepted the senatorship of South Carolina, and 
was coming to the capital to advocate his favorite 
doctrine. But the South Carolinians had made 
one trifling blunder. They- had overlooked the 
President. Jackson was a Southerner and a Dem- 
ocrat, but he was also the head of the nation, and 
determined to maintain its integrity. On Decem- 
ber 10, before Congress assembled, he issued his 
famous proclamation in which he took up vigor- 
ously the position adopted by Mr. Webster in his 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 213 

reply to Hayne, and gave the South Carolinians 
to understand that he would not endure treason, 
but would enforce constitutional laws even though 
he should be compelled to use bayonets to do it. 
The Legislature of the recalcitrant State replied 
in an offensive manner which only served to make 
Jackson angry. He, too, began to say some pretty 
violent things, and, as he generally meant what he 
said, the gallant leaders of nullification and other 
worthy people grew very uneasy. There can be 
no doubt that the outlook was very threatening, 
and the nullifiers were extremely likely to be the 
first to suffer from the effects of the impending 
storm. 

Mr. Webster was in New Jersey, on his way to 
Washington, when he first received the proclama- 
tion, and at Philadelphia he met Mr. Clay, and 
from a friend of that gentleman received a copy 
of a bill which was to do away with the tariff by 
gradual reductions, prevent the imposition of any 
further duties, and which at the same time de- 
clared against protection and in favor of a tariff 
for revenue only. This headlong plunge into con- 
cession and compromise was not at all to Mr. 
Webster's taste. He was opposed to the scheme 
for economical reasons, but still more on the far 
higher ground that there was open resistance to 
laws of undoubted constitutionality, and until that 
resistance was crushed under foot any talk of 
compromise was a blow at the national dignity 



J 



214 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

and the national existence which ought not to be 
tolerated for an instant. His own course was 
plain. He proposed to sustain the administration, 
and when the national honor should be vindicated 
and all unconstitutional resistance ended, then 
would come the time for concessions. Jackson 
was not slow in giving Mr. Webster something to 
support. At the opening of the session a message 
was sent to Congress asking that provision might 
be made to enable the President to enforce the 
laws by means of the land and naval forces if 
necessary. The message was referred to a com- 
mittee, who at once reported the celebrated " Force 
Bill," which embodied the principles of the mes- 
sage and had the entire approval of the Presi- 
dent. But Jackson's party broke, despite the at- 
titude of their chief, for many of them were from 
the South and could not bring themselves to the 
point of accepting the " Force Bill." The mo- 
ment was critical, and the administration turned 
to Mr. Webster and took him into their councils. 
On February 8 Mr. Webster rose, and, after ex- 
plaining in a fashion which no one was likely to 
forget, that this was wholly an administration 
measure, he announced his intention, as an inde- 
pendent senator, of giving it his hearty and in- 
flexible support. The combination thus effected 
was overwhelming. Mr. Calhoun was now thor- 
oughly alarmed, and we can well imagine that the 
threats of hanging, in which it was rumored that 



TEE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 215 

the President had indulged, began to have a good 
deal of practical significance to a gentleman who, 
as Secretary of War, had been familiar with the 
circumstances attending the deaths of Arbuthnot 
and Ambrister. At all events, Mr. Calhoun lost 
no time in having an interview with Mr. Clay, 
and the result was, that the latter, on February 
11, announced that he should, on the following 
day, introduce a tariff bill, a measure of the same 
sort having already been started in the House. 
The bill as introduced did not involve such a 
complete surrender as that which Mr. Webster 
had seen in Philadelphia, but it necessitated most 
extensive modifications and gave all that South 
Carolina could reasonably demand. Mr. Clay 
advocated it in a brilliant speech, resting his de- 
fence on the ground that this was the only way to 
preserve the tariff, and that it was founded on the 
great constitutional doctrine of compromise. Mr. 
Webster opposed the bill briefly, and then intro- 
duced a series of resolutions combating the pro- 
posed measure on economical principles and on 
those of justice, and especially assailing the read- 
iness to abandon the rightful powers of Congress 
and yield them up to any form of resistance. 
Before, however, he could speak in support of his 
resolutions, the " Force Bill" came up, and Mr» 
Calhoun made his celebrated argument in sup- 
port of nullification. This Mr. Webster was 
obliged to answer, and he replied with the great 



216 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



speech known in his works as " The Constitution 
not a compact between sovereign States." In a 
general way the same criticism is applicable to 
this debate as to that with Hayne, but there were 
some important differences. Mr. Calhoun's argu- 
ment was superior to that of his follower. It was 
dry and hard, but it was a splendid specimen of 
close and ingenious reasoning, and, as was to be 
expected, the originator and master surpassed the 
imitator and pupil. Mr. Webster's speech, on 
the other hand, in respect to eloquence, was de- 
cidedly inferior to the masterpiece of 1830. Mr. 
Curtis says, " Perhaps there is no speech ever 
made by Mr. Webster that is so close in its rea- 
soning, so compact, and so powerful." To the first 
two qualities we can readily assent, but that it 
was equally powerful may be doubted. So long 
as Mr. Webster confined himself to defending the 
Constitution as it actually was and as what it had 
come to mean in point of fact, he was invincible. 
Just in proportion as he left this ground and at- 
tempted to argue on historical premises that it 
was a fundamental law, he weakened his position, 
for the historical facts were against him. In the 
reply to Hayne he touched but slightly on the 
historical, legal, and theoretical aspects of the 
case, and he was overwhelming. In the reply to 
Calhoun he devoted his strength chiefly to these 
topics, and, meeting his keen antagonist on the 
latter's own chosen ground, he put himself at a 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 217 

disadvantage. In the actual present and in the 
steady course of development, the facts were 
wholly with Mr. Webster. Whatever the people 
of the United States understood the Constitu- 
tion to mean in 1789, there can be no question 
that a majority in 1833 regarded it as a funda- 
mental law, and not as a compact — an opinion 
which has now become universal. But it was 
quite another thing to argue that what the Con- 
stitution had come to mean was what it meant 
when it was adopted. The identity of meaning 
at these two periods was the proposition which 
Mr. Webster undertook to maintain, and he up- 
held it as well and as plausibly as the nature of 
the case admitted. His reasoning was close and 
vigorous ; but he could not destroy the theory of 
the Constitution as held by leaders and people in 
1789, or reconcile the Virginia and Kentucky res- 
olutions or the Hartford Convention with the fun- 
damental-law doctrines. Nevertheless, it would 
be an error to suppose that because the facts of 
history were against Mr. Webster in these par- 
ticulars, this able, ingenious, and elaborate argu- 
ment was thrown away. It was a fitting supple- 
ment and complement to the reply to Hayne. It 
reiterated the national principles, and furnished 
those whom the statement and demonstration of 
an existing fact could not satisfy, with' an im- 
mense magazine of lucid reasoning and plausible 
and effective arguments. The reply to Hayne 



218 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



gave magnificent expression to the popular feeling, 
while that to Calhoun supplied the arguments 
which, after years of discussion, converted that 
feeling into a fixed opinion, and made it strong 
enough to carry the North through four years of 
civil war. But in his final speech in this debate 
Mr. Webster came back to his original ground, and 
said, in conclusion, " Shall we have a general gov- 
ernment? Shall we continue the union of States 
under a government instead of a league? This 
vital and all-important question the people will 
decide." The vital question went to the great 
popular jury, and they cast aside all historical pre- 
mises and deductions, all legal subtleties and re- 
finements, and gave their verdict on the existing 
facts. The world knows what that verdict was, 
and will never forget that it was largely due to the 
splendid eloquence of Daniel Webster when he de- 
fended the cause of nationality against the slave- 
holding separatists of South Carolina. 

While this great debate was in progress, and 
Mr. Webster and the faithful adherents of Jack- 
son were pushing the 64 Force Bill " to a vote, Mr. 
Clay was making every effort to carry the com- 
promise tariff. In spite of his exertions, the 
Force Bill passed on February 20, but close be- 
hind came the tariff, which Mr. Webster opposed, 
on its final passage, in a vigorous speech. There 
is no need to enter into his economical objec- 
tions, but he made his strongest stand against 



TEE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 219 



the policy of sacrificing great interests to soothe 
South Carolina. Mr. Clay replied, but did not 
then press a vote, for, with that dexterous man- 
agement which he had exhibited in 1820 and was 
again to display in 1850, he had succeeded in get- 
ting his tariff bill carried rapidly through the 
House, in order to obviate the objection that all 
money bills must originate in the lower branch. 
The House bill passed the Senate, Mr. Webster 
voting against it, and became law. There was no 
further need of the Force Bill. Clay, Calhoun, 
even the daring Jackson ultimately, were very 
glad to accept the easy escape offered by a com- 
promise. South Carolina had in reality prevailed, 
although Mr. Clay had saved protection in a 
modified form. Her threats of nullification had 
brought the United States government to terms, 
and the doctrines of Calhoun went home to the 
people of the South with the glory of substantial 
victory about them, to breed and foster separatism 
and secession, and prepare the way for armed con- 
flict with the nobler spirit of nationality which 
Mr. Webster had roused in the North. 

Speaking of Mr. Webster at this period, Mr. 
Benton says : — 

" He was the colossal figure on the political stage 
during that eventful time, and his labors, splendid in 
their day, survive for the benefit of distant posterity." 
... a It was a splendid era in his life, both for his intel- 
lect and his patriotism. No longer the advocate of 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



classes or interests, he appeared as the great defender 
of the Union, of the Constitution, of the country, and of 
the administration to which he was opposed. Released 
from the bonds of party and the narrow confines of class 
and corporation advocacy, his colossal intellect expanded 
to its full proportions in the field of patriotism, luminous 
with the fires of genius, and commanding the homage 
not of party but of country. His magnificent harangues 
touched Jackson in his deepest-seated and ruling feeling, 
love of country, and brought forth the response which 
always came from him when the country was in peril 
and a defender presented himself. He threw out the 
right hand of fellowship, treated Mr. Webster with 
marked distinction, commended him with public praise, 
and placed him on the roll of patriots. And the public 
mind took the belief that they were to act together in 
future, and that a cabinet appointment or a high mis- 
sion would be the reward of his patriotic service. It 
was a crisis in the life of Mr. Webster. He stood in 
public opposition to Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun. With 
Mr. Clay he had a public outbreak in the Senate. He 
was cordial with Jackson. The mass of his party stood 
by him on the proclamation. He was at a point from 
which a new departure might be taken : one at which 
he could not stand still ; from which there must be 
either advance or recoil. It was a case in which will 
more than intellect was to rule. He was above Mr. 
Clay and Mr. Calhoun in intellect, below them in will : 
and he was soon seen cooperating with them (Mr. Clay 
in the lead) in the great measure condemning President 
Jackson." 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 221 

This is of * course the view of a Jacksonian 
leader, but it is none the less full of keen analysis 
and comprehension of Mr. Webster, and in some 
respects embodies very well the conditions of the 
situation. Mr. Benton naturally did not see that 
an alliance with Jackson was utterly impossible 
for Mr. Webster, whose proper course was there- 
fore much less simple than it appeared to the 
Senator from Missouri. There was in reality no 
common ground possible between Webster and 
Jackson except defence of the national integrity. 
Mr. Webster was a great orator, a splendid advo- 
cate, a trained statesman and economist, a remark- 
able constitutional lawyer, and a man of immense 
dignity, not headstrong in temper and without pe- 
culiar force of will. Jackson, on the other hand, 
was a rude soldier, unlettered, intractable, arbi- 
trary, with a violent temper and a most despotic 
will. Two men more utterly incompatible it would 
have been difficult to find, and nothing could have 
been more wildly fantastic than to suppose an 
alliance between them, or to imagine that Mr. 
Webster could ever have done anything but op- 
pose utterly those mad gyrations of personal gov- 
ernment which the President called his " policy." 

Yet at the same time it is perfectly true that 
just after the passage of the tariff bill Mr. Web- 
ster was at a great crisis in his life. He could 
not act with Jackson. That way was shut to him 
by nature, if by nothing else. But he could have 



222 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



maintained his position as the independent and 
unbending defender of nationality and as the foe 
of compromise. He might then have brought Mr* 
Clay to his side, and remained himself the undis- 
puted head of the Whig party. The coalition be- 
tween Clay and Calhoun was a hollow, ill-omened 
thing, certain to go violently to pieces, as, in 
fact, it did, within a few years, and then Mr. Clay, 
if he had held out so long, would have been help- 
less without Mr. Webster. But such a course re- 
quired a very strong will and great tenacity of pur- 
pose, and it was on this side that Mr. Webster 
was weak, as Mr. Benton points out. Instead of 
waiting for Mr. Clay to come to him, Mr. Webster 
went over to Clay and Calhoun, and formed for 
a time the third in that ill-assorted partnership. 
There was no reason for his doing so. In fact 
every good reason was against it. Mr. Clay had 
come to Mr. Webster with his compromise, and had 
been met with the reply " that it would be yielding 
great principles to faction ; and that the time had 
come to test the strength of the Constitution and the 
government." This was a brave, manly answer, 
but Mr. Clay, nationalist as he was, had straight- 
way deserted his friend and ally, and gone over to 
the separatists for support. Then a sharp contest 
had occurred between Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay 
in the debate on the tariff ; and when it was all 
over, the latter wrote with frank vanity and a slight 
tinge of contempt : " Mr. Webster and I came in 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 223 

conflict, and I have the satisfaction to tell you that 
he gained nothing. My friends flatter me with 
my having completely triumphed. There is no 
permanent breach between us. I think he be- 
gins already to repent his course." Mr. Clay was 
intensely national, but his theory of preserving 
the Union was by continual compromise, or, in 
other words, by constant yielding to the aggress- 
ive South. Mr. Webster's plan was to maintain 
a firm attitude, enforce absolute submission to 
all constitutional laws, and prove that agitation 
against the Union could lead only to defeat. This 
policy would not have resulted in rebellion, but, if 
it had, the hanging of Calhoun and a few like him, 
and the military government of South Carolina, 
by the hero of New Orleans, would have taught 
slave-holders such a lesson that we should prob- 
ably have been spared four years of civil war. 
Peaceful submission, however, would have been 
the sure outcome of Mr. Webster's policy. But a 
compromise appealed as it always does to the 
timid, balanee-of-power party. Mr. Clay pre- 
vailed, and the manufacturers of New England, as 
well as elsewhere, finding that he had secured for 
them the benefit of time and of the chapter of 
accidents, rapidly came over to his support. The 
pressure was too much for Mr. Webster. Mr. Clay 
thought that if Mr. Webster "had to go over the 
work of the last few weeks he would have been 
for the compromise, which commands the appro- 



224 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



bation of a great majority." Whether Mr. Web- 
ster repented his opposition to the compromise no 
one can say, but the change of opinion in New 
England, the general assent of the Whig party, 
and the dazzling temptations of presidential can- 
didacy prevailed with him. He fell in behind 
Mr. Clay, and remained there in a party sense and 
as a party man for the rest of his life. 

The terrible prize of the presidency was indeed 
again before his eyes. Mr. Clay's overthrow at 
the previous election had removed him, for the 
time being at least, from the list of candidates, 
and thus freed Mr. Webster from his most danger- 
ous rival. In the summer of 1833 Mr. Webster 
made a tour through the Western States, and was 
received everywhere with enthusiasm, and hailed 
as the great expounder and defender of the Con- 
stitution. The following winter he stood forward 
as the preeminent champion of the Bank against 
the President. Everything seemed to point to 
him as the natural candidate of the opposition. 
The Legislature of Massachusetts nominated him 
for the presidency, and he himself deeply desired 
the office, for the fever now burned strongly 
within him. But the movement came to nothing. 
The anti-masonic schism still distracted the oppo- 
sition. The Kentucky leaders were jealous of Mr. 
Webster, and thought him "no such man" as 
their idol Henry Clay. They admitted his great- 
ness and his high traits of character, but they 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 225 

thought his ambition mixed with too much self- 
love. Governor Letcher wrote to Mr. Crittenden 
in 1836 that Clay was more elevated, disinter- 
ested and patriotic than Webster, and that the 
verdict of the country had had a good effect on the 
latter. Despite the interest and enthusiasm which 
Mr. Webster aroused in the West, he had no real 
hold upon that section or upon the masses of the 
people and the Western Whigs turned to Harri- 
son. There was no hope in 1836 for Mr. Webster, 
or, for that matter, for his party either. He re- 
ceived the electoral vote of faithful Massachu- 
setts, and that was all. As it was then, so it had 
been at the previous election, and so it was to 
continue to be at the end of every presidential 
term. There never was a moment when Mr. 
Webster had any real prospect of attaining to the 
presidency. Unfortunately he never could real- 
ize this. He would have been more than human, 
perhaps, if he had done so. The tempting bait 
hung always before his eyes. The prize seemed 
to be always just coming within his reach and 
was really never near it. But the longing had 
entered his soul. He could not rid himself of the 
idea of this final culmination to his success ; and 
it warped his feelings and actions, injured his 
career, and embittered his last years. 

This notice of the presidential election of 1836 
has somewhat anticipated the course of events. 
Soon after the tariff compromise had been efc 

15 



226 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



fected, Mr. Webster renewed his relations with 
Mr. Clay, and, consequently, with Mr. Calhoun, 
and their redoutable antagonist in the President's 
chair soon gave them enough to do. The most 
immediate obstacle to Mr. Webster's alliance with 
General Jackson was the latter's attitude in re- 
gard to the bank. Mr. Webster had become sat- 
isfied that the bank was, on the whole, a useful 
and even necessary institution. No one was bet- 
ter fitted than he to decide on such a question, and 
few persons would now be found to differ from his 
judgment on this point. In a general way he 
may be said to have adopted the Hamiltonian doc- 
trine in regard to the expediency and constitu- 
tionality of a national bank. There were intima- 
tions in the spring of 1833 that the President, 
not content with preventing the re-charter of the 
bank, was planning to strike it down, and practi- 
call} 7 deprive it of even the three years of life 
which still remained to it by law. The scheme 
was perfected during the summer, and, after 
changing his Secretary of the Treasury until he 
got one who would obey, President Jackson dealt 
his great blow. On September 26 Mr. Taney 
signed the order removing the deposits of the 
government from the Bank of the United States. 
The result was an immediate contraction of loans, 
commercial distress, and great confusion. 

The President had thrown down the gage, and 
the leaders of the opposition were not slow to take 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 227 

it up. Mr. Clay opened the battle by introducing 
two resolutions, — one condemning the action of 
the President as unconstitutional, the other attack- 
ing the policy of removal, and a long and bitter de- 
bate ensued. A month later, Mr. Webster came 
forward with resolutions from Boston against the 
course of the President. He presented the resolu- 
tions in a powerful and effective speech, depicting 
the deplorable condition of business, and the in- 
jury caused to the country by the removal of the 
deposits. He rejected the idea of leaving the cur- 
rency to the control of the President, or of doing 
away entirely with paper, and advocated the re- 
charter of the present bank, or the creation of a 
new one ; and, until the time for that should arrive, 
the return of the deposits, with its consequent re- 
lief to business and a restoration of stability and of 
confidence for the time being at least. He soon 
found that the administration had determined that 
no law should be passed, and that the doctrine 
that Congress had no power to establish a bank 
should be upheld. He also discovered that the 
constitutional pundit in the White House, who 
was so opposed to a single national bank, had cre- 
ated, by his own fiat, a large number of small 
national banks in the guise of state banks, to 
which the public deposits were committed, and the 
collection of the public revenues intrusted. Such 
an arbitrary policy, at once so ignorant, illogical, 
and dangerous, aroused Mr. Webster thoroughly, 



228 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



and he entered immediately upon an active cam- 
paign against the President. Between the pres- 
entation of the Boston resolutions and the close 
of the session he spoke on the bank, and the sub- 
jects necessarily connected with it, no less than 
sixty-four times. He dealt entirely with financial 
topics, — chiefly those relating to the currency, 
and with the constitutional questions raised by 
the extension of the executive authority. This 
long series of speeches is one of the most remark- 
able exhibitions of intellectual power ever made 
by Mr. Webster, or indeed by any public man in 
our history. In discussing one subject in all its 
bearings, involving of necessity a certain amount 
of repetition, he not only displayed an extraordi- 
nary grasp of complicated financial problems and 
a wide knowledge of their scientific meaning and 
history, but he showed an astonishing fertility 
in argument, coupled with great variety and clear- 
ness of statement and cogency of reasoning. With 
the exception of Hamilton, Mr. Webster is the 
only statesman in our history who was capable of 
such a performance on such a subject, when a 
thorough knowledge had to be united with all 
the resources of debate and all the arts of the 
highest eloquence. 

The most important speech of all was that de- 
livered in answer to Jackson's " Protest," sent in 
as a reply to Mr. Clay's resolutions which had 
been sustained by Mr. Webster as chairman of 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 229 

the Committee on Finance. The " Protest " as- 
serted, in brief, that the Legislature could not 
order a subordinate officer to perform certain 
duties free from the control of the President ; 
that the President had the right to put his own 
conception of the law into execution ; and, if the 
subordinate officer refused to obey, then to remove 
such officer ; and that the Senate had therefore no 
right to censure his removal of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, in order to reach the government 
deposits. To this doctrine Mr. Webster replied 
with great elaboration and ability. The question 
was a very nice one. There could be no doubt of 
the President's power of removal, and it was neces- 
sary to show that this power did not extend to the 
point of depriving Congress of the right to confer 
by law specified and independent powers upon an 
inferior officer, or of regulating the tenure of office. 
To establish this proposition in such a way as to 
take it out of the thick and heated atmosphere of 
personal controversy, and put it in a shape to carry 
conviction to the popular understanding, was a del- 
icate and difficult task, requiring, in the highest 
degree, lucidity and ingenuity of argument. It is 
not too high praise to say that Mr. Webster suc- 
ceeded entirely. The real contest was for the 
possession of that debatable ground which lies 
between the defined limits of the executive and 
legislative departments. The struggle consoli- 
dated and gave coherence tc the Whig party as 



230 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



representing the opposition to executive encroach- 
ments. At the time Jackson, by his imperious 
will and marvellous personal popularity, prevailed 
and obtained the acceptance of his doctrines. But 
the conflict has gone on, and the balance of ad- 
vantage now rests with the Legislature. This 
tendency is quite as dangerous as that of which 
Jackson was the exponent, if not more so. The 
executive department has been crippled ; and the 
influence and power of Congress, and especially of 
the Senate, have become far greater than they 
should be, under the system of proportion and bal- 
ance embodied in the Constitution. Despite Jack- 
son's victory there is, to-day, far more danger of 
undue encroachments on the part of the Senate 
than on that of the President. 

At the next session the principal subject of dis- 
cussion was the trouble with France. Irritated 
at the neglect of the French government to pro- 
vide funds for the payment of their debt to us, 
Jackson sent in a message severely criticising 
them, and recommending the passage of a law 
authorizing reprisals on French property. The 
President and his immediate followers were eager 
for war, Calhoun and his faction regarded the 
whole question as only matter for " an action of 
assumpsit," while Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay de- 
sired to avoid hostilities, but wished the country 
to maintain a firm and dignified attitude. Under 
the lead of Mr. Clay, the recommendation of re- 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 



231 



prisals was rejected, and under that of Mr. Web- 
ster a clause smuggled into the Fortification Bill to 
give the President three millions to spend as he 
liked was struck out and the bill was subsequently 
lost. This affair, which brought us to the verge 
of war with France, soon blew over, however, and 
caused only a temporary ripple, although Mr. 
Webster's attack on the Fortification Bill left a 
sting behind. 

In this same session Mr. Webster made an ex- 
haustive speech on the question of executive pat- 
ronage and the President's power of appointment 
and removal. He now went much farther than 
in his answer to the " Protest," asserting not only 
the right of Congress to fix the tenure of office, 
but also that the power of removal, like the power 
of appointment, was in the President and Senate 
jointly. The speech contained much that was 
valuable, but in its main doctrine was radically 
unsound. The construction of 1789, which de- 
cided that the power of removal belonged to the 
President alone, was clearly right, and Mr. Web- 
ster failed to overthrow it. His theory, embodied 
in a bill which provided that the President should 
state to the Senate, when he appointed to a va- 
cancy caused by removal, his reasons for such 
removal, was thoroughly mischievous. It was 
more dangerous than Jackson's doctrine, for it 
tended to take the power of patronage still more 
from a single and responsible person and vest 



232 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



it in a large and therefore wholly irresponsible 
body which has always been too much inclined to 
degenerate into an office-broking oligarchy, and 
thus degrade its high and important functions. 
Mr. Webster argued his proposition with his usual 
force and perspicuity, but the speech is strongly 
partisan and exhibits the disposition of an advo- 
cate to fit the Constitution to his particular case, 
instead of dealing with it on general and funda- 
mental principles. 

The session closed with a resolution offered by 
Mr. Benton to expunge the resolutions of censure 
upon the President, which was overwhelmingly 
defeated, and was then laid upon the table, on the 
motion of Mr. Webster. He also took the first step 
to prevent the impending financial disaster grow- 
ing out of the President's course toward the bank, 
by carrying a bill to stop the payment of treasury 
warrants by the deposit banks in current bank- 
notes, and to compel their payment in gold and sil- 
ver. The rejection of Benton's resolutions served 
to embitter the already intense conflict between 
the President and his antagonists, and Mr. Web- 
ster's bill, while it showed the wisdom of the op- 
position, was powerless to remedy the mischief 
which was afoot. 

In this same year (1835) the independence of 
Texas was achieved, and in the session of 1835- 
36 the slavery agitation began its march, which 
was only to terminate on the field of battle and 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 233 



in the midst of contending armies. Mr. Web- 
ster's action at this time in regard to this great 
question, which was destined to have such an effect 
upon his career, can be more fitly narrated when 
we come to consider his whole course in regard to 
slavery in connection with the " 7th of March " 
speech. The other matters of this session demand 
but a brief notice. The President animadverted 
in his message upon the loss of the Fortification 
Bill, due to the defeat of the three million clause. 
Mr. Webster defended himself most conclusively 
and effectively, and before the session closed the 
difficulties with France were practically settled. 
He also gave great attention to the ever-pressing 
financial question, trying to mitigate the evils 
which the rapid accumulation of the public funds 
was threatening to produce. He felt that he 
was powerless, that nothing indeed could be done 
to avert the approaching disaster ; but he strug- 
gled to modify its effects and delay its progress. 

Complications increased rapidly during the sum- 
mer. The famous " Specie Circular," issued by 
the Secretary of the Treasury without authority 
of law, weakened all banks which did not hold the 
government deposits, forced them to contract their 
loans, and completed the derangement of domestic 
exchange. This grave condition of affairs con- 
fronted Congress when it assembled in December, 
1836. A resolution was introduced to rescind the 
Specie Circular, and Mr. Webster spoke at length 



234 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



in the debate, defining the constitutional duties 
of the government toward the regulation of the 
currency, and discussing in a masterly manner 
the intricate questions of domestic exchanges and 
the excessive circulation of bank notes. On an- 
other occasion he reiterated his belief that a na- 
tional bank was the true remedy for existing ills, 
but that only hard experience could convince the 
country of its necessity. 

At this session the resolution to expunge the vote 
of censure of 1833 was again brought forward by 
Mr. Benton. The Senate had at last come under 
the sway of the President, and it was clear that 
the resolution would pass. This precious scheme 
belongs to the same category of absurdities as the 
placing Oliver Cromwell's skull on Temple Bar, 
and throwing Robert Blake's body on a dung-hill 
by Charles Stuart and his friends. It was not 
such a mean and cowardly performance as that of 
the heroes of the Restoration, but it was far more 
"childish-foolish." The miserable and ludicrous 
nature of such a proceeding disgusted Mr. Web- 
ster beyond measure. Before the vote was taken 
he made a brief speech that is a perfect model of 
dignified and severe protest against a silly outrage 
upon the Constitution and upon the rights of sen- 
ators, which he was totally unable to prevent. 
The original censure is part of history. No " black 
lines" can take it out. The expunging resolution, 
^rhich Mr. Curtis justly calls " fantastic and the- 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 235 



atrical," is also part of history, and carries with it 
the ineffaceable stigma affixed by Mr. Webster's 
indignant protest. 

Before the close of the session Mr. Webster 
made up his mind to resign his seat in the Senate. 
He had private interests which demanded his at- 
tention, and he wished to travel both in the 
United States and in Europe. He may well have 
thought, also, that he could add nothing to his 
fame by remaining longer in the Senate. But 
besides the natural craving for rest, it is quite pos- 
sible that he believed that a withdrawal from active 
and official participation in politics was the best 
preparation for a successful candidacy for the pres- 
idency in 1840. This certainly was in his mind 
in the following year (1838), when the rumor was 
abroad that he was again contemplating retire- 
ment from the Senate ; and it is highly probable 
that the same motive was at bottom the control- 
ling one in 1837. But whatever the cause of his 
wish to resign, the opposition of his friends every- 
where, and of the Legislature of Massachusetts, 
formally and strongly expressed, led him to forego 
his purpose. He consented to hold his seat for 
the present, at least, and in the summer of 1837 
made an extended tour through the West, where 
he was received as before with the greatest admi- 
ration and enthusiasm. 

The distracted condition of the still inchoate 
Whig party in 1836, and the extraordinary popu- 



236 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



larity of Jackson, resulted in the complete victory 
of Mr. Van Buren. But the General's chosen suc- 
cessor and political heir found the great office to 
which he had been called, and which he so eagerly 
desired, anything but a bed of roses. The ruin 
which Jackson's wild policy had prepared was 
close at hand, and three months after the inaugu- 
ration the storm burst with full fury. The banks 
suspended specie payments and universal bank- 
ruptcy reigned throughout the country. Our 
business interests were in the violent throes of the 
worst financial panic which had ever been known 
in the United States. The history of Mr. Van 
Buren's administration, in its main features, is 
that of a vain struggle with a hopeless network of 
difficulties, and with the misfortune and prostra- 
tion which grew out of this wide-spread disaster. 
It is not necessary here to enter into the details of 
these events. Mr. Webster devoted himself in 
the Senate to making every effort to mitigate the 
evils which he had prophesied, and to prevent 
their aggravation by further injudicious legisla- 
tion. His most important speech was delivered 
at the special session against the first sub-treasury 
bill and Mr. Calhoun's amendment. Mr. Calhoun, 
who had wept over the defeat of the bank bill in 
1815, was now convinced that all banks were mis- 
takes, and wished to prevent the acceptance of the 
notes of specie paying banks for government dues. 
Mr. Webster's speech was the fullest and most 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 237 

elaborate he ever made on the subject of the cur- 
rency, and the relations of the government to it. 
His theme was the duty and right of the general 
government under the Constitution to regulate 
and control the currency, and his masterly argu- 
ment was the best that has ever been made, leav- 
ing in fact nothing to be desired. 

In the spring of 1839 there was talk of sending 
Mr. Webster to London as commissioner to settle 
the boundary disputes, but it came to nothing, 
and in the following summer he went to England 
in his private capacity accompanied by his family. 
The visit was in every way successful. It brought 
rest and change as well as pleasure, and was full 
of interest. Mr. Webster was very well received, 
much attention was paid him, and much admira- 
tion shown for him. He commanded all this, not 
only by his appearance, his reputation, and his in- 
tellectual force, but still more by the fact that 
he was thoroughly and genuinely American in 
thought, feeling, and manner. 

He reached New York on his return at the end 
of December, and was there met by the news of 
General Harrison's nomination by the Whigs. In 
the previous year it had seemed as if, with Clay 
out of the way by the defeat of 1832, and Harri- 
son by that of 1836, the great prize must fall to 
Mr. Webster. His name was brought forward 
by the Whigs of Massachusetts, but it met with 
no response even in New England. It was the 

v 



238 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



old story; Mr. Clay and his friends were cool, and 
the masses of the party did not desire Mr. Web- 
ster. The convention turned from the Massachu- 
setts statesman and again nominated the old West- 
ern soldier. 

Mr. Webster did not hesitate as to the course 
he should pursue upon his return. He had been 
reelected to the Senate in January, 1839. and after 
the session closed in July, 1840, he threw himself 
into the campaign in support of Harrison. The 
people did not desire Mr. Webster to be their 
President, but there was no one whom they so 
much wished to hear. He was besieged from all 
parts of the country with invitations to speak, 
and he answered generously to the call thus made 
upon him. 

On his wav home from Washington, in March, 
1837. more than three years before, he had made 
a speech at Niblo's Garden in Xew York, — the 
greatest purely political speech which he ever de- 
livered. He then reviewed and arraigned with 
the greatest severity the history of Jackson's ad- 
ministration, abstaining in his characteristic way 
from all personal attack, but showing, as no one 
else could show, what had been done, and the re- 
sults of the policy, which were developing as he 
had predicted. He also said that the worst was 
yet to come. The speech produced a profound 
impression. People were still reading it when 
the worst really came, and the great panic broke 



THE STRUGGLE WITH JACKSON. 239 

oyer the country. Mr. Webster had, in fact, 
struck the key-note of the coming campaign in 
the Niblo-Garden speech of 1837. In the sum- 
mer of 1840 he spoke in Massachusetts, New- 
York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and was almost 
continually upon the platform. The great feat 
of 1833-34, when he made sixty-four speeches in 
the Senate on the'bank question, was now repeated 
under much more difficult conditions. In the first 
instance he was addressing a small and select 
body of trained listeners, all more or less familiar 
with the subject. In 1840 he was obliged to pre- 
sent these same topics, with all their infinite detail 
and inherent dryness, to vast popular audiences, 
but nevertheless he achieved a marvellous success. 
The chief points which he brought out were the 
condition of the currency, the need of govern- 
ment regulation, the responsibility of the Dem- 
ocrats, the miserable condition of the country, and 
the exact fulfillment of the prophecies he had 
made. The argument and the conclusion were 
alike irresistible, but Mr. Webster showed, in 
handling his subject, not only the variety, rich- 
ness, and force which he had displayed in the 
Senate, but the capacity of presenting it in a 
way thoroughly adapted to the popular mind, 
and yet, at the same time, of preserving the im- 
pressive tone of a dignified statesman, without 
any degeneration into mere stump oratory. This 
wonderful series of speeches produced the great- 



240 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



est possible effect. They were heard by thou- 
sands and read by tens of thousands. They fell, 
of course, upon willing ears. The people, smarting 
under bankruptcy, poverty, and business depression, 
were wild for a change ; but nothing did so much 
to swell the volume of public resentment against 
the policy of the ruling party as these speeches 
of Mr. Webster, which gave character and form 
to the whole movement. Jackson had sown the 
wind, and his unlucky successor was engaged in 
the agreeable task of reaping the proverbial crop. 
There was a political revolution. The Whigs 
swept the country by an immense majority, the 
great Democratic party was crushed to the earth, 
and the ignorant misgovernment of Andrew Jack- 
son found at last its fit reward. General Harri- 
son, as soon as he was elected, turned to the two 
great chiefs of his party to invite them to become 
the pillars of his administration. Mr. Clay de- 
clined any cabinet office, but Mr. Webster, after 
some hesitation, accepted the secretaryship of state. 
He resigned his seat in the Senate February 22, 
1841, and on March 4 following took his place in 
the cabinet, and entered upon a new field of public 
service. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



SECEETAEY OF STATE. — THE ASHBUETON 
TEEATY. 

Theee is one feature in the history, or rather 
in the historic scenery of this period, which we 
are apt to overlook. The political questions, the 
debates, the eloquence of that day, give us no idea 
of the city in which the history was made, or of 
the life led by the men who figured in that history. 
Their speeches might have been delivered in any 
great centre of civilization, and in the midst of 
a brilliant and luxurious society. But the Wash- 
ington of 1841, when Mr. Webster took the post 
which is officially the first in the society of the 
capital and of the country, was a very odd sort of 
place, and widely different from what it is to-day. 
It was not a village, neither was it a city. It had 
not grown, but had been created for a special pur- 
pose. A site had been arbitrarily selected, and a 
city laid out on the most magnificent scale. But 
there was no independent life, for the city was 
wholly official in its purposes and its existence. 
There were a few great public buildings, a few 
large private houses, a few hotels and boarding 

16 



242 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



houses, and a large number of negro shanties 
The general effect was of attempted splendor, 
which had resulted in slovenliness and straggling 
confusion. The streets were unpaved, dusty in 
summer, and deep with mud in winter, so that the 
mere difficulty of getting from place to place was 
a serious obstacle to general society. Cattle fed 
in the streets, and were milked by their owners on 
the sidewalk. There was a grotesque contrast be- 
tween the stately capitol where momentous ques- 
tions were eloquently discussed and such queerly 
primitive and rude surroundings. Few persons 
were able to entertain because few persons had 
suitable houses. Members of Congress usually 
clubbed together and took possession of a house, 
and these " messes," as they were called, — al- 
though without doubt very agreeable to their 
members, — did not offer a mode of life which 
was easily compatible with the demands of general 
society. Social enjoyments, therefore, were pur- 
sued under difficulties ; and the city, although im- 
proving, was dreary enough. 

Society, too, was in a bad condition. The old 
forms and ceremonies of the men of 1789 and the 
manners and breeding of our earliest generation of 
statesmen had passed away, and the new democ- 
racy had not as yet a system of its own. It was a 
period of transition. The old customs had gone, 
the new ones had not crystallized. The civiliza- 
tion was crude and raw, and in Washington had 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



243 



no background whatever, — such as was to be 
found in the old cities and towns of the original 
thirteen States. The tone of the men in public 
life had deteriorated and was growing worse, ap- 
proaching rapidly its lowest point, which it reached 
during the Polk administration. This was due 
partly to the Jacksonian democracy, which had 
rejected training and education as necessary to 
statesmanship, and had loudly proclaimed the 
great truths of rotation in office, and the spoils to 
the victors, and partly to the slavery agitation 
which was then beginning to make itself felt. 
The rise of the irrepressible conflict between free- 
dom and slavery made the South overbearing and 
truculent ; it produced that class of politicians 
known as " Northern men with Southern prin- 
ciples," or, in the slang of the day, as " dough- 
faces ; " and it had not yet built up a strong, vigor- 
ous, and aggressive party in the North. The lack 
of proper social opportunities, and this deteriora- 
tion among men in public life, led to an increasing 
violence and roughness in debate, and to a good 
deal of coarse dissipation in private. There was 
undoubtedly a brighter side, but it was limited, 
and the surroundings of the distinguished men 
who led our political parties in 1841 at the 
national capital, do not present a very cheerful 
or attractive picture. 

When th^ new President appeared upon the 
scene he was followed by a general rush of hungry 



\ 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



office-seekers, who had been starving for places 
for many years. General Harrison was a brave, 
honest soldier and pioneer, simple in heart and 
manners, unspoiled and untaught by politics of 
which he had had a good share. He was not a 
great man, but he was honorable and well inten- 
tioned. He wished to have about him the best 
and ablest men of his party, and to trust to their 
guidance for a successful administration. But 
although he had no desire to invent a policy, or to 
draft state papers, he was determined to be the 
author of his own inaugural speech, and he came 
to Washington with a carefully-prepared manu- 
script in his pocket. When Mr. Webster read 
this document he found it full of gratitude to the 
people, and abounding in allusions to Roman his- 
tory. With his strong sense of humor, and of the 
unities and proprieties as well, he was a good deal 
alarmed at the proposed speech ; and after much 
labor, and the expenditure of a good deal of tact, 
he succeeded in effecting some important changes 
and additions. When he came home in the even- 
ing, Mrs. Seaton, at whose house he was staying, 
remarked that he looked worried and fatigued, 
and asked if anything had happened. Mr. Web- 
ster replied, 44 You would think that something 
had happened if you knew what I have done. I 
have killed seventeen Roman proconsuls." It was 
a terrible slaughter for poor Harrison, for the pro- 
consuls were probably very dear to his heart. His 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



245 



youth had been passed in the time when the 
pseudo classicism of the French Republic and Em- 
pire was rampant, and now that, in his old age, he 
had been raised to the presidency, his head was 
probably full of the republics of antiquity, and of 
Cincinnatus called from the plough to take the 
helm of state. 

M. de Bacourt, the French minister at this pe- 
riod, a rather shallow and illiberal man who dis- 
liked Mr. Webster, gives, in his recently published 
correspondence, the following amusing account of 
the presentation of the diplomatic corps to Pres- 
ident Harrison, — a little bit of contemporary gos- 
sip which carries us back to those days better than 
anything else could possibly do. The diplomatic 
corps assembled at the house of Mr. Fox, the 
British minister, who was to read a speech in 
behalf of the whole body, and thence proceeded 
to the White House where 

"the new Secretary of State, Mr. Webster, who is 
much embarrassed by his new functions, came to make 
his arrangements with Mr. Fox. This done, we were 
ranged along the wall in order of seniority, and after too 
long a delay for a country where the chief magistrate 
has no right to keep people waiting, the old General came 
in, followed by all the members of his Cabinet, who 
walked in single file, and so kept behind him. He then 
advanced toward Mr. Fox, whom Mr. Webster presented 
to him. Mr. Fox read to him his address. Then the 
President took out his spectacles and read his reply. 



246 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Then, after having shaken hands with the English 
minister, he walked from one end of our line to the 
other, Mr. Webster presenting each of us by name, and 
he shaking hands with each one without saying a word. 
This ceremony finished he returned to the room whence 
he had come, and reappeared with Mrs. Harrison — the 
widow of his eldest son — upon his arm, whom he pre- 
sented to the diplomatic corps en masse. Mr. Webster, 
who followed, then presented to us Mrs. Finley, the 
mother of this Mrs. Harrison, in the following terms : 
4 Gentlemen, I introduce to you Mrs. Finley, the lady 
who attends Mrs. Harrison ; ' and observe that this good 
lady who attends the others — takes care of them — is 
blind. Then all at once, a crowd of people rushed into 
the room. They were the wives, sisters, daughters, 
cousins, and lady friends of the President and of all his 
ministers, who were presented to us, and vice versa, in 
the midst of an inconceivable confusion." 

Fond, however, as Mr. Webster was of society, 
and punctilious as he was in matters of etiquette 
and propriety, M. de Bacourt to the contrary not- 
withstanding, he had far more important duties to 
perform than those of playing host and receiving 
foreign ministers. Our relations with England 
when he entered the cabinet were such as to make 
war seem almost inevitable. The northeastern 
boundary, undetermined by the treaty of 1783, 
had been the subject of continual and fruitless ne- 
gotiation ever since that time, and was still unset- 
tled and more complicated than ever. It was 
agreed that there should be a new survey and a 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



247 



new arbitration, but no agreement could be reached 
as to who should arbitrate or what questions 
should be submitted to the arbitrators, and the 
temporary arrangements for the possession of the 
territory in dispute were unsatisfactory and pre- 
carious. Much more exciting and perilous than 
this old difficulty was a new one and its conse- 
quences growing out of the Canadian rebellion in 
1837. Certain of the rebels fled to the United 
States, and there, in conjunction with American 
citizens, prepared to make incursions into Can- 
ada. For this purpose they fitted out an Amer- 
ican steamboat, the Caroline. An expedition 
from Canada crossed the Niagara River to the 
American shore, set fire to the Caroline, and 
let her drift over the Falls. In the fray which 
occurred, an American named Durfree was killed. 
The British government avowed this invasion to 
be a public act and a necessary measure of self- 
defence ; but it was a question when Mr. Van 
Buren went out of office whether this avowal had 
been made in an authentic manner. There was 
another incident, however, also growing out of 
this affair, even more irritating and threatening 
than the invasion itself. In November, 1840, one 
Alexander McLeod came from Canada to New 
York, where he boasted that he was the slayer of 
Durfree, and thereupon was at once arrested on a 
charge of murder and thrown into prison. This 
aroused great anger in England, and the convic- 



248 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



tion of McLeod was all that was needed to cause 
immediate war. In addition to these complica- 
tions was the question of the right of search for 
the impressment of British seamen and for the 
suppression of the slave-trade. Our government 
was, of course, greatly hampered in action by the 
rights of Maine and Massachusetts on the north- 
eastern boundary, and by the fact that McLeod 
was within the jurisdiction and in the power of 
the New York courts, and wholly out of reach of 
those of the United States. The character of the 
national representatives on both sides in London 
tended, moreover, to aggravate the growing irrita- 
tion between the two countries. Lord Palmerston 
was sharp and domineering, and Mr. Stevenson, 
our minister, was by no means mild or concilia- 
tory. Between them they did what they could to 
render accommodation impossible. 

To evolve a satisfactory and permanent peace 
from these conditions was the task which con- 
fronted Mr. Webster, and he was hardly in office 
before he received a demand from Mr. Fox for the 
release of McLeod, in which full avowal was made 
that the burning of the Caroline was a public 
act. Mr. Webster determined that the proper 
method of settling the boundary question, when 
that subject should be reached, was to agree upon 
a conventional and arbitrary line, and that in the 
mean time the only way to dispose of McLeod was 
to get him out of prison, separate him, diplomatic 



SECRETARY OF STATE, 



249 



cally speaking, from the affair of the Caroline, 
and then take that up as a distinct matter for 
negotiation with the British government. The 
difficulty in regard to McLeod was the most 
pressing, and so to that he gave his immediate at- 
tention. His first step was to instruct the Attor- 
ney-General to proceed to Lockport, where McLeod 
was imprisoned, and communicate with the coun- 
sel for the defence, furnishing them with authen- 
tic information that the destruction of the Caro- 
line was a public act, and that therefore McLeod 
could not be held responsible. He then replied 
to the British minister that McLeod could, of 
course, be released only by judicial process, but 
he also informed Mr. Fox. of the steps which had 
been taken by the administration to assure the 
prisoner a complete defence based on the avowal 
of the British government that the attack on the 
Caroline was a public act. This threw the re- 
sponsibility for McLeod, and for consequent peace 
or war, where it belonged, on the New York au- 
thorities, who seemed, however, but little inclined 
to assist the general government. McLeod came 
before the Supreme Court of New York in July, 
on a writ of habeas corpus, but they refused to 
release him on the grounds set forth in Mr. Web- 
ster's instructions to the Attorney-General, and 
he was remanded for trial in October, which was 
highly embarrassing to our government, as it kept 
this dangerous affair open. 



250 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



But this and all other embarrassments to the 
Secretary of State sank into insignificance beside 
those caused him by the troubles in his own polit- 
ical party. Between the time of the instructions 
to the Attorney-General and that of the letter to 
Mr. Fox, President Harrison died, after only a 
month of office. Mr. Tyler, of whose views but 
little was known, at once succeeded, and made no 
change in the cabinet of his predecessor. On the 
last day of May, Congress, called in extra session 
by President Harrison, convened. A bill estab- 
lishing a bank was passed, and Mr. Tyler vetoed 
it on account of constitutional objections to some 
of its features. The triumphant Whigs were filled 
with wrath at this unlooked-for check. Mr. Clay 
reflected on the President with great severity in 
the Senate, the members of the party in the House 
were very violent in their expressions of disap- 
proval, and another measure, known as the " Fis- 
cal Corporation Act," was at once prepared. Mr. 
Webster regarded this state of affairs with great 
anxiety and alarm. He said that such a contest, 
if persisted in, would ruin the party and deprive 
them of the fruits of their victory, besides im- 
perilling the important foreign policy then just 
initiated. He strove to allay the excitement, and 
resisted the passage of any new bank measure, 
much as he wished the establishment of such an 
institution, advising postponement and delay for 
the sake of procuring harmony if possible. But 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



251 



the party in Congress would not be quieted. They 
were determined to force Mr. Tyler's hand at all 
hazards, and while the new bill was pending, Mr. 
Clay, stung by the taunts of Mr. Buchanan, made 
a savage attack upon the President. As a natural 
consequence, the " Fiscal Corporation " scheme 
shared the fate of its predecessor. The breach 
between the President and his party was opened 
irreparably, and four members of the cabinet at 
once resigned. Mr. Webster was averse to be- 
coming a party to an obvious combination between 
the Senate and the cabinet to harass the Presi- 
dent, and he was determined not to sacrifice the 
success of his foreign negotiations to a political 
quarrel. He therefore resolved to remain in the 
cabinet for the present, at least, and, after con- 
sulting the Massachusetts delegation in Congress, 
who fully approved his course, he announced his 
decision to the public in a letter to the " National 
Intelligencer." His action soon became the sub- 
ject of much adverse criticism from the Whigs, 
but at this day no one would question that he was 
entirely right. It was not such an easy thing to 
do, however, as it now appears, for the excitement 
was running high among the Whigs, and there 
was great bitterness of feeling toward the Pres- 
ident. Mr. Webster behaved in an independent 
and patriotic manner, showing a liberality of spirit, 
a breadth of view, and a courage of opinion which 
entitle him to the greatest credit. 



252 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Events, which had seemed thus far to go steadily 
against him in his negotiations, and which had 
been supplemented by the attacks of the opposi- 
tion in Congress for his alleged interference with 
the course of justice in New York, now began to 
turn in his favor. The news of the refusal of the 
New York court to release McLeod on a habeas 
corpus had hardly reached England when the 
Melbourne ministry was beaten in the House of 
Commons, and Sir Robert Peel came in, bringing 
with him Lord Aberdeen as the successor of Lord 
Palmerston in the department of foreign affairs. 
The new ministry was disposed to be much more 
peaceful than their predecessors had been, and the 
negotiations at once began to move more smoothly. 
Great care was still necessary to prevent outbreaks 
on the border, but in October McLeod proved an 
alibi and was acquitted, and thus the most danger- 
ous element in our relations with England was 
removed. Matters were still further improved by 
the retirement of Mr. Stevenson, whose successor 
in London was Mr. Everett, eminently concilia- 
tory in disposition and in full sympathy with the 
Secretary of State. 

Mr. Webster was now able to turn his undi- 
vided attention to the long-standing boundary 
question. His proposition to agree upon a con- 
ventional line had been made known by Mr. Fox 
to his government, and soon afterwards Mr. Ever- 
ett was informed that Lord Ashburton would be 



SECRETARY OF STATE, 



253 



sent to Washington on a special mission. The 
selection of an envoy well known for his friendly- 
feeling toward the United States, which was also 
traditional with the great banking-house of his 
family, was in itself a pledge of conciliation and 
good will. Lord Ashburton reached Washing- 
ton in April, 1842, and the negotiation at once 
began. 

It is impossible and needless to give here a de- 
tailed account of that negotiation. We can only 
glance briefly at the steps taken by Mr. Webster 
and at the results achieved by him. There were 
many difficulties to be overcome, and in the win- 
ter of 1841-42 the case of the Creole added a 
fresh and dangerous complication. The Creole 
was a slave-ship, on which the negroes had risen, 
and, taking possession, had carried her into an 
English port in the West Indies, where assist- 
ance was refused to the crew, and where the slaves 
were allowed to go free. This was an act of very 
doubtful legality, it touched both England and 
the Southern States in a very sensitive point, and 
it required all Mr. Webster's tact and judgment to 
keep it out of the negotiation until the main issue 
had been settled. 

The principal obstacle in the arrangement of 
the boundary dispute arose from the interests and 
the attitude of Massachusetts and Maine. Mr. 
Webster obtained with sufficient ease the appoint* 
ment of commissioners from the former State, and, 



254 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



through the agency of Mr. Sparks, who was sent 
to Augusta for the purpose, commissioners were 
also appointed in Maine ; but these last were in- 
structed to adhere to the line of 1783 as claimed 
by the United States. Lord Ashburton and Mr. 
Webster readily agreed that a treaty must come 
from mutual conciliation and compromise ; but, 
after a good deal of correspondence, it became ap~ 
parent that the Maine commissioners and the Eng- 
lish envoy could not be brought to an agreement. 
A dead-lock and consequent loss of the treaty were 
imminent. Mr. Webster then had a long inter- 
view with Lord Ashburton. By a process of give 
and take they agreed on a conventional line and 
on the concession of certain rights, which made a 
fair bargain, but unluckily the loss was suffered by 
Maine and Massachusetts, while the benefits re- 
ceived by the United States accrued to New York, 
Vermont, and New Hampshire. This brought the 
negotiators to the point at which they had already 
been forced to halt so many times before. Mr. 
Webster now cut the knot by proposing that the 
United States should indemnify Maine and Massa- 
chusetts in money for the loss they were to suffer 
in territory, and by his dexterous management the 
commissioners of the two States were persuaded to 
assent to this arrangement, while Lord Ashburton 
was induced to admit the agreement into a clause 
of the treaty. This disposed of the chief ques- 
tion in dispute, but two other subjects were in- 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



255 



eluded in the treaty besides the boundary. The 
first related to the right of search claimed by Eng- 
land for the suppression of the slave-trade. This 
was met by what was called the " Cruising Con- 
vention," a clause which stipulated that each na- 
tion should keep its own squadron on the coast of 
Africa, to enforce separately its own laws against 
the slave-trade, but in mutual cooperation. The 
other subject of agreement grew out of the Creole 
case. England supposed that we sought the re- 
turn of the negroes because they were slaves, but 
Mr. Webster argued that they were demanded as 
mutineers and murderers. The result was an ar- 
ticle which, while it carefully avoided even the 
appearance of an attempt to bind England to re- 
turn fugitive slaves, provided amply for the extra- 
dition of criminals. The case of the Caroline 
was disposed of by a formal admission of the 
inviolability of national territory and by an apol- 
ogy for the burning of the steamboat. As to the 
action in regard to the slaves on the Creole, 
Mr. Webster could only obtain the assurance that 
there should be " no officious interference with 
American vessels driven by accident or violence 
into British ports," and with this he was content 
to let the matter drop. On the subject of impress- 
ment, the old casus belli of 1812, Mr. Webster 
wrote a forcible letter to Lord Ashburton. In it 
he said that, in future, "in every regularly-docu- 
mented American merchant vessel, the crew who 



256 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



navigate it will find their protection in the flag 
which is over them." In other words, if you take 
sailors out of our vessels, we shall fight ; and this 
simple statement of fact ended the whole matter 
and was quite as binding on England as any treaty 
could have been. 

Thus the negotiation closed. The only serious 
objection to its results was that the interests of 
Maine were sacrificed perhaps unduly, — as a re- 
cent discussion of that point seems to show. 
But such a sacrifice was fully justified by what 
was achieved. A war was averted, a long stand- 
ing and menacing dispute was settled, and a treaty 
was concluded which was creditable and honorable 
to all concerned. By his successful introduction 
of the extradition clause, Mr. Webster rendered 
a great service to civilization and to the suppres- 
sion and punishment of crime. Mr. Webster was 
greatly aided throughout — both in his arguments, 
and in the construction of the treaty itself — by 
the learned and valuable assistance freely given 
by Judge Story. But he conducted the whole 
negotiation with great ability and in the spirit of a 
liberal and enlightened statesman. He displayed 
the highest tact and dexterity in reconciling so 
many clashing interests, and avoiding so many 
perilous side issues, until he had brought the 
main problem to a solution. In all that he did 
and said he showed a dignity and an entire suffi- 
ciency, which make this negotiation one of the 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



257 



most creditable — so far as its conduct was con- 
cerned — in which the United States ever en- 
gaged. 

While the negotiation was in progress there was 
a constant murmur among the Whigs about Mr. 
Webster's remaining in the cabinet, and as soon 
as the treaty was actually signed a loud clamor 
began — both among the politicians and in the 
newspapers — for his resignation. In the midst 
of this outcry the Senate met and ratified the 
treaty by a vote of thirty-nine to nine, — a great 
triumph for its author. But the debate disclosed 
a vigorous opposition, Benton and Buchanan both 
assailing Mr. Webster for neglecting and sacrificing 
American, and particularly Southern, interests. At 
the same time the controversy which Mr. Webster 
called " the battle of the maps," and which was 
made a great deal of in England, began to show 
itself. A map of 1783, which Mr. Webster ob- 
tained, had been discovered in Paris, sustaining 
the English view, while another was afterwards 
found in London, supporting the American claim. 
Neither was of the least consequence, as the new 
line was conventional and arbitrary; but the dis- 
coveries caused a great deal of unreasonable ex- 
citement. Mr. Webster saw very plainly that the 
treaty was not yet secure. It was exposed to at- 
tacks both at home and abroad, and had still to 
pass Parliament. Until it was entirely safe, Mr. 
Webster determined to remain at his post. The 

17 



258 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



clamor continued about his resignation, and rose 
round him at his home in Marshfield, whither he 
had gone for rest. At the same time the Whig 
convention of Massachusetts declared formally a 
complete separation from the President. In the 
language of to-day, they " read Mr. Tyler out of 
the party." There was a variety of motives for 
this action. One was to force Mr. Webster out of 
the cabinet, another to advance the fortunes of 
Mr. Clay, in favor of whose presidential candidacy 
movements had begun in Massachusetts, even 
among Mr. Webster's personal friends, as well as 
elsewhere. Mr. Webster had just declined a pub- 
lic dinner, but he now decided to meet his friends 
in Faneuil Hall. An immense audience gathered 
to hear him, many of them strongly disapproving 
his course, but after he had spoken a few mo- 
ments, he had them completely under control. 
He reviewed the negotiation; he discussed fully 
the differences in the party ; he deplored, and he 
did not hesitate strongly to condemn these quar- 
rels, because by them the fruits of victory were 
lost, and Whig policy abandoned. With boldness 
and dignity he denied the right of the convention 
to declare a separation from the President, and 
the implied attempt to coerce himself and others. 
" I am, gentlemen, a little hard to coax," he said, 
"but as to being driven, that is out of the ques- 
tion. If I choose to remain in the President's 
councils, do these gentlemen mean to say that I 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



259 



cease to be a Massachusetts Whig ? I am quite 
ready to put that question to the people of Massa- 
chusetts." He was well aware that he was losing 
party strength by his action ; he knew that be- 
hind all these resolutions was the intention to 
raise his great rival to the presidency ; but he did 
not shrink from avowing his independence and his 
intention of doing what he believed to be right, 
and what posterity admits to have been so. Mr. 
Webster never appeared to better advantage, and 
he never made a more manly speech than on this 
occasion, when, without any bravado, he quietly set 
the influence and the threats of his party at de- 
fiance. 

He was not mistaken in thinking that the treaty 
was not yet in smooth water. It was again attacked 
in the Senate, and it had a still more severe ordeal 
to go through in Parliament. The opposition, 
headed by Lord Palmerston, assailed the treaty 
and Lord Ashburton himself, with the greatest 
virulence, denouncing the one as a capitulation, 
and the other as a grossly unfit appointment. 
Moreover, the language of the President's message 
led England to believe that we claimed that the 
right of search had been abandoned. After much 
correspondence, this misunderstanding drew forth 
an able letter from Mr. Webster, stating that the 
right of search had not been included in the 
treaty, but that the " cruising convention " had 
rendered the question unimportant. Finally, all 



260 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



complications were dispersed, and the treaty rati- 
fied ; and then came an attack from an unexpected 
quarter. General Cass — our minister at Paris — 
undertook to protest against the treaty, denounce 
it, and leave his post on account of it. This 
wholly gratuitous assault led to a public corre- 
spondence, in which General Cass, on his own 
confession, was completely overthrown and broken 
down by the Secretary of State. This was the 
last difficulty, and the work was finally accepted 
and complete. 

During this important and absorbing negotia- 
tion, other matters of less moment, but still of 
considerable consequence, had been met by Mr. 
Webster, and successfully disposed of. He made 
a treaty with Portugal, respecting duties on wines ; 
he carried on a long correspondence with our min- 
ister to Mexico in relation to certain American 
prisoners ; he vindicated the course of the United 
States in regard to the independence of Texas, 
teaching M. de Bocanegra, the Mexican Secretary 
of State, a lesson as to the duties of neutrality, and 
administering a severe reproof to that gentleman 
for imputing bad faith to the United States ; he 
conducted the correspondence, and directed the 
policy of the government in regard to the troubles 
in Rhode Island ; he made an effort to settle the 
Oregon boundary ; and, finally, he set on foot the 
Chinese mission, which, after being offered to Mr. 
Everett, was accepted by Mr. Cushing with the 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



261 



best results. But his real work came to an end 
with the correspondence with General Cass at the 
close of 1842, and in May of the following year 
he resigned the secretaryship. In the two years 
during which he had been at the head of the 
cabinet, he had done much. His work added to 
his fame by the ability which it exhibited in a 
new field, and has stood the test of time. In a 
period of difficulty, and even danger, he proved 
himself singularly well adapted for the conduct 
of foreign affairs, — a department which is most 
peculiarly and traditionally the employment and 
test of a highly-trained statesman. It may be 
fairly said that no one, with the exception of John 
Quincy Adams, has ever shown higher qualities, 
or attained greater success in the administration 
of the State Department, than Mr. Webster did 
while in Mr. Tyler's cabinet. 

On his resignation, he returned at once to pri- 
vate life, and passed the next summer on his farm 
at Marshfield, — now grown into a large estate, — 
which was a source of constant interest and delight, 
and where he was able to have beneath his eyes his 
beloved sea. His private affairs were in disorder, 
and required his immediate attention. He threw 
himself into his profession, and his practice at once 
became active, lucrative, and absorbing. To this 
period of retirement belong the second Bunker Hill 
oration and the Girard argument, which made so 
much noise in its day, He kept himself aloof 



262 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



from politics, but could not wholly withdraw from 
them. The feeling against him, on account of his 
continuance in the cabinet, had subsided, and there 
was a feeble and somewhat fitful movement to drop 
Clay, and present Mr. Webster as a candidate for 
the presidency. Mr. Webster, however, made a 
speech at Andover, defending his course and advo- 
cating Whig principles, and declared that he was 
not a candidate for office. He also refused to allow 
New Hampshire to mar party harmony by bring- 
ing his name forward. When Mr. Clay was nom- 
inated, in May, 1844, Mr. Webster, who had be- 
held with anxiety the rise of the Liberty party 
and prophesied the annexation of Texas, decided, 
although he was dissatisfied with the silence of the 
Whigs on this subject, to sustain their candidate. 
This was undoubtedly the wisest course ; and, 
having once enlisted, he gave Mr. Clay a hearty 
and vigorous support, making a series of powerful 
speeches, chiefly on the tariff, and second in vari- 
ety and ability only to those which he had deliv- 
ered in the Harrison campaign. Mr. Clay was de- 
feated largely by the action of the Liberty party, 
and the silence of the Whigs about Texas and 
slavery cost them the election, At the beginning 
of the year Mr. Webster had declined a reelection 
to the Senate, but it was impossible for him to 
remain out of politics, and the pressure to return 
soon became too strong to be resisted. When Mr. 
Choate resigned in the winter of 1844-45, Mr, 



SECRETARY OF STATE. 



263 



Webster was reelected senator from Massachu- 
setts. On the first of March the intrigue, to per- 
fect which Mr. Calhoun had accepted the State 
Department, culminated, and the resolutions for 
the annexation of Texas passed both branches of 
Congress. Four days later Mr. Polk's adminis- 
tration, pledged to the support and continuance of 
the annexation policy, was in power, and Mr. 
Webster had taken his seat in the Senate for his 
last term. 



CHAPTER IX. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. — THE SEVENTH CXF 
MARCH SPEECH. 

The principal events of Mr. Polk's administra- 
tion belong to or grow out of the slavery agitation, 
then beginning to assume most terrible propor- 
tions. So far as Mr. Webster is concerned, they 
form part of the history of his course on the slav- 
ery question, which culminated in the famous 
speech of March 7, 1850. Before approaching 
that subject, however, it will be necessary to touch 
very briefly on one or two points of importance in 
Mr. Webster's career, which have no immediate 
bearing on the question of slavery, and no relation 
to the final and decisive stand which Mr. Webster 
took in regard to it. 

The Ashburton treaty was open to one just crit- 
icism. It did not go far enough. It did not set- 
tle the northwestern as it did the northeastern 
boundary. Mr. Webster, as has been said, made 
an effort to deal with the former as well as the 
latter, but he met with no encouragement, and 
as he was then preparing to retire from office, the 
matter dropped. In regard to the northwestern 



RETURN TO TEE SENATE. 



265 



boundary Mr. Webster agreed with the opinion 
of Mr. Monroe's cabinet, that the forty-ninth par- 
allel was a fair and proper line ; but the British 
undertook to claim the line of the Columbia River, 
and this excited corresponding claims on our side. 
The Democracy for political purposes became es- 
pecially warlike and patriotic. They declared in 
their platform that we must have the whole of 
Oregon and reoccupy it at once. Mr. Polk em- 
bodied this view in his message, together with the 
assertion that our rights extended to the line of 
54° 40' north, and a shout of " fifty-four-forty or 
fight " went through the land from the enthusias- 
tic Democracy. If this attitude meant anything 
it meant war, inasmuch as our proposal for the 
forty-ninth parallel, and the free navigation of the 
Columbia River, made in the autumn of 1845, had 
been rejected by England, and then withdrawn 
by us. Under these circumstances Mr. Webster 
felt it his duty to come forward and exert all his 
influence to maintain peace, and to promote a clear 
comprehension, both in the United States and in 
Europe, of the points at issue. His speech on this 
subject and with this aim was delivered in Faneuil 
Hall. He spoke of the necessity of peace, of the 
fair adjustment offered by an acceptance of the 
forty-ninth parallel, and derided the idea of cast- 
ing two great nations into war for such a question 
as this. He closed with a forcible and solemn de- 
nunciation of the president or minister who should 



266 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dare to take the responsibility for kindling the 
flames of war on such a pretext. The speech was 
widely read. It was translated into nearly all the 
languages of Europe, and on the continent had a 
great effect. About a month later he wrote to 
Mr. MacGregor of Glasgow, suggesting that the 
British government should offer to accept the 
forty-ninth parallel, and his letter was shown to 
Lord Aberdeen, who at once acted upon the ad- 
vice it contained. While this letter, however, was 
on its way, certain resolutions were introduced in 
the Senate relating to the national defences, and 
to give notice of the termination of the conven- 
tion for the joint occupation of Oregon, which 
would of course have been nearly equivalent to a 
declaration of war. Mr. Webster opposed the 
resolutions, and insisted that, while the Executive, 
as he believed, had no real wish for war, this talk 
was kept up about " all or none," which left noth- 
ing to negotiate about. The notice finally passed, 
but before it could be delivered by our minister in 
London, Lord Aberdeen's proposition of the forty- 
ninth parallel, as suggested by Mr. Webster, had 
been received at Washington, where it was ac- 
cepted by the truculent administration, agreed to 
by the Senate, and finally embodied in a treaty. 
Mr. Webster's opposition had served its purpose 
in delaying action and saving bluster from being 
converted into actual war, — a practical conclusion 
by no means desired by the dominant party, who 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



267 



had talked so loud that they came very near blun- 
dering into hostilities merely as a matter of self- 
justification. The declarations of the Democratic 
convention and of the Democratic President in 
regard to England were really only sound and 
fury, although they went so far that the final re- 
treat was noticeable and not very graceful. The 
Democratic leaders had had no intention of fight- 
ing with England when all they could hope to 
gain would be glory and hard knocks, but they 
had a very definite idea of attacking without blus- 
ter and in good earnest another nation where there 
was territory to be obtained for slavery. 

The Oregon question led, however, to an attack 
upon Mr. Webster which cannot be wholly passed 
over. He had, of course, his personal enemies in 
both parties, and his effective opposition to war 
with England greatly angered some of the most 
warlike of the Democrats, and especially Mr. 
C. J. Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, a bitter Anglo- 
phobist. Mr. Ingersoll, in February, made a sav- 
age attack upon the Ashburton negotiation, the 
treaty of Washington, and upon Mr. Webster per- 
sonally, alleging that as Secretary of State he 
had been guilty of a variety of grave misdemean- 
ors, including a corrupt use of the public money. 
Some of these charges, those relating to the pay- 
ment of McLeod's counsel by our government, 
to instructions to the Attorney-General to take 
charge of McLeod's defence, and to a threat by 



268 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Mr. Webster that if McLeod were not released 
New York would be laid in ashes, were repeated 
in the Senate by Mr. Dickinson of New York. 
Mr. Webster peremptorily called for all the papers 
relating to the negotiation of 1842, and on the 
sixth and seventh of April (1846), he made the 
elaborate speech in defence of the Ashburton 
treaty, which is included in his collected works. 
It is one of the strongest and most virile speeches 
lie ever delivered. He was profoundly indignant, 
and he had the completest mastery of his subject. 
In fact, he was so deeply angered by the charges 
made against him, that he departed from his al- 
most invariable practice, and indulged in a severe 
personal denunciation of Ingersoll and Dickinson. 
Although he did not employ personal invective in 
his oratory, it was a weapon which he was capable 
of using with most terrible effect, and his blows 
fell with crushing force upon Ingersoll, who writhed 
under the strokes. Through some inferior officers 
of the State Department Ingersoll got what he 
considered proofs, and then introduced resolutions 
calling for an account of all payments from the 
secret service fund ; for communications made by 
Mr. Webster to Messrs. Adams and Cushing of 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs ; for all papers 
relating to McLeod, and for the minutes of the 
committee on Foreign Affairs, to show that Mr. 
Webster had expressed an opinion adverse to our 
claim in the Oregon dispute. Mr. Ingersoll closed 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



269 



his speech by a threat of impeachment as the result 
and reward of all this evil-doing, and an angry 
debate followed, in which Mr. Webster was at- 
tacked and defended with equal violence. Presi- 
dent Polk replied to the call of the House by say- 
ing that he could not feel justified, either morally 
or legally, in revealing the uses of the secret ser- 
vice fund. Meantime a similar resolution was de- 
feated in the Senate by a vote of forty-four to one, 
Mr. Webster remarking that he was glad that the 
President had refused the request of the House ; 
that he should have been sorry to have seen an 
important principle violated, and that he was not 
in the least concerned at being thus left without 
an explanation ; he needed no defence, he said, 
against such attacks. 

Mr. Ingersoll, rebuffed by the President, then 
made a personal explanation, alleging specifically 
that Mr. Webster had made an unlawful use of 
the secret service money, that he had employed 
it to corrupt the press, and that he was a defaulter. 
Mr. Ashmun of Massachusetts replied with great 
bitterness, and the charges were referred to a com- 
mittee. It appeared, on investigation, that Mr. 
Webster had been extremely careless in his ac- 
counts, and had delayed in making them up and in 
rendering vouchers, faults to which he was natu- 
rally prone ; but it also appeared that the money 
had been properly spent, that the accounts had ulti- 
mately been made up, and that there was no evi- 



270 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dence of improper use. The committee's report was 
laid upon the table, the charges came to nothing, 
and Mr. Ingersoll was left in a very unpleasant po- 
sition with regard to the manner in which he had 
obtained his information from the State Depart- 
ment. The affair is of interest now merely as 
showing how deeply rooted was Mr. Webster's 
habitual carelessness in money matters, even 
when it was liable to expose him to very grave 
imputations, and what a very dangerous man he 
was to arouse and put on the defensive. 

Mr. Webster was absent when the intrigue and 
scheming of Mr. Polk culminated in war with 
Mexico, and so his vote was not given either for 
or against it. He opposed the volunteer system 
as a mongrel contrivance, and resisted it as he had 
the conscription bill in the war of 1812, as uncon- 
stitutional. He also opposed the continued prose- 
cution of the war, and, when it drew toward a 
close, was most earnest against the acquisition of 
new territory. In the summer of 1847 he made 
an extended tour through the Southern States, and 
was received there, as he had been in the West, 
with every expression of interest and admiration. 

The Mexican war, however, cost Mr. Webster 
far more than the anxiety and disappointment 
which it brought to him as a public man. His 
second son, Major Edward Webster, died near the 
City of Mexico, from disease contracted by expos- 
ure on the march. This melancholy news reached 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 271 

Mr. Webster when important matters which de- 
manded his attention were pending in Congress. 
Measures to continue the war were before the Sen- 
ate even after they had ratified the peace. These 
measures Mr. Webster strongly resisted, and he 
also opposed, in a speech of great power, the ac- 
quisition of new territories by conquest, as threat- 
ening the very existence of the nation, the princi- 
ples of the Constitution, and the Constitution 
itself. The increase of senators, which was, of 
course, the object of the South in annexing Texas 
and in the proposed additions from Mexico, he 
Tegarded as destroying the balance of the govern- 
ment, and therefore he denounced the plan of ac- 
quisition by conquest in the strongest terms. The 
course about to be adopted, he said, will turn the 
Constitution into a deformity, into a curse rather 
than a blessing ; it will make a frame of govern- 
ment founded on the grossest inequality, and 
will imperil the existence of the Union. With 
this solemn warning he closed his speech, and im- 
mediately left Washington for Boston, where his 
daughter, Mrs. Appleton, was sinking in con- 
sumption. She died on April 28th and was buried 
on May 1st. Three days later, Mr. Webster fol- 
lowed to the grave the body of his son Edward, 
which had been brought from Mexico. Two such 
terrible blows, coming so near together, need no 
comment. They tell their own sad story. One 
child only remained to him of all who had gath- 



272 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ered about his knees in the happy days at Ports- 
mouth and Boston, and his mind turned to 
thoughts of death as he prepared at Marshfield a 
final resting-place for himself and those he had 
loved. Whatever successes or defeats were still 
in store for him, the heavy cloud of domestic sor- 
row could never be dispersed in the years that re- 
mained, nor could the gaps which had been made 
be filled or forgotten. 

But the sting of personal disappointment and of 
frustrated ambition, trivial enough in comparison 
with such griefs as these, was now added to this 
heavy burden of domestic affliction. The success 
of General Taylor in Mexico rendered him a most 
tempting candidate for the Whigs to nominate. 
His military services and his personal popularity 
promised victory, and the fact that no one knew 
Taylor's political principles, or even whether he 
was a Whig or a Democrat, seemed rather to in- 
crease than diminish his attractions in the eyes of 
the politicians. A movement was set on foot to 
bring about this nomination, and its managers 
planned to make Mr. Webster Vice-President on 
the ticket with the victorious soldier. Such an 
offer was a melancholy commentary on his ambi- 
tious hopes. He spurned the proposition as a per- 
sonal indignity, and, disapproving always of the se- 
lection of military men for the presidency, openly 
refused to give his assent to Taylor's nomination 
Other trials, however, were still in store for him. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



273 



Mr. Clay was a candidate for the nomination, and 
many Whigs, feeling that his success meant another 
party defeat, turned to Taylor as the only instru- 
ment to prevent this danger. In February, 1848, 
a call was issued in New York for a public meeting 
to advance General Taylor's candidacy, which 
was signed by many of Mr. Webster's personal 
and political friends. Mr. Webster was surprised 
and grieved, and bitterly resented this action. 
His biographer, Mr. Curtis, speaks of it as a blun- 
der which rendered Mr. Webster's nomination 
hopeless. The truth is, that it was a most signifi- 
cant illustration of the utter futility of Mr. Web- 
ster's presidential aspirations. These friends in 
New York, who no doubt honestly desired his 
nomination, were so well satisfied that it was per- 
fectly impracticable, that they turned to General 
Taylor to avoid the disaster threatened, as they 
believed, by Mr. Clay's success. Mr. Webster 
predicted truly that Clay and Taylor would be 
the leading candidates before the convention, but 
he was wholly mistaken in supposing that the 
movement in New York would bring about the 
nomination of the former. His friends had judged 
rightly. Taylor was the only man who could de- 
feat Clay, and he was nominated on the fourth 
ballot. Massachusetts voted steadily for Webster, 
but he never approached a nomination. Even 
Scott had twice as many votes. The result of the 
convention led Mr. Webster to take a very gloomy 

18 



274 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



view of the prospects of the Whigs, and he was 
strongly inclined to retire to his tent and let them 
go to deserved ruin. In private conversation he 
spoke most disparagingly of the nomination, the 
Whig party, and the Whig candidate. His stric- 
tures were well deserved, but, as the election drew 
on, he found or believed it to be impossible to 
live up to them. He was not ready to go over to 
the Free-Soil party, he could not remain silent, 
yet he could not give Taylor a full support. In 
September, 1848, he made his famous speech at 
Marshfield, in which, after declaring that the " sa- 
gacious, wise, far-seeing doctrine of availability 
lay at the root of the whole matter," and that 
" the nomination was one not fit to be made," he 
said that General Taylor was personally a brave 
and honorable man, and that, as the choice lay 
between him and the Democratic candidate, Gen- 
eral Cass, he should vote for the former and ad- 
vised his friends to do the same. He afterwards 
made another speech, in a similar but milder 
strain, in Faneuil Hall. Mr, Webster's attitude 
was not unlike that of Hamilton when he pub- 
lished his celebrated attack on Adams, which 
ended by advising all men to vote for that objec- 
tionable man. The conclusion was a little impo- 
tent in both instances, but in Mr. Webster's case 
the results were better. The politicians and lovers 
of availability had judged wisely, and Taylor was 
triumphantly elected. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 275 

Before the new President was inaugurated, in 
the winter of 1848-49, the struggle began in 
Congress, which led to the delivery of the 7th of 
March speech by Mr. Webster in the following 
year. At this point, therefore, it becomes neces- 
sary to turn back and review briefly and rapidly 
Mr. Webster's course in regard to the question of 
slavery. 

His first important utterance on this momentous 
question was in 1819, when the land was distracted 
with the conflict which had suddenly arisen over 
the admission of Missouri. Massachusetts was 
strongly in favor of the exclusion of slavery from 
the new States, and utterly averse to any com- 
promise. A meeting was held in the state-house 
at Boston, and a committee was appointed to draft 
a memorial to Congress, on the subject of the pro- 
hibition of slavery in the territories. This me- 
morial, — which was afterwards adopted, — was 
drawn by Mr. Webster, as chairman of the com- 
mittee. It set forth, first, the belief of its signers 
that Congress had the constitutional power 66 to 
make such a prohibition a condition on the admis- 
sion of a new State into the Union, and that it 
is just and proper that they should exercise that 
power." - Then came an argument on the consti- 
tutional question, and then the reasons for the ex- 
ercise of the power as a general policy. The first 
point was that it would prevent further inequal- 
ity of representation, such as existed under the 



276 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Constitution in the old States, but which could 
not be increased without danger. The next argu- 
ment went straight to the merits of the question, 
as involved in slavery as a system. After pointing 
out the value of the ordinance of 1787 to the North- 
west, the memorial continued : — 

" We appeal to the justice and the wisdom of the 
national councils to prevent the further progress of a 
great and serious evil. "We appeal to those who look 
forward to the remote consequences of their measures, 
and who cannot balance a temporary or trifling con- 
venience, if there were such, against a permanent grow- 
ing and desolating evil. 

. . . The Missouri territory is a new country. If its 
extensive and fertile fields shall be opened as a market 
for slaves, the government will seem to become a party 
to a traffic, which in so many acts, through so many 
years, it has denounced as impolitic, unchristian, and in- 
human. . . . The laws of the United States have de- 
nounced heavy penalties against the traffic in slaves, 
because such traffic is deemed unjust and inhuman. 
We appeal to the spirit of these laws; we appeal to 
this justice and humanity; we ask whether they ought 
not to operate, on the present occasion, with all their 
force? We have a strong feeling of the injustice of 
any toleration of slavery. Circumstances have entailed 
it on a portion of our community, which cannot be im- 
mediately relieved from it without consequences more 
injurious than the suffering of the evil. But to permit 
it in a new country, where yet no habits are formed 
which render it indispensable, what is it but to en- 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



277 



courage that rapacity and fraud and violence against 
which we have so long pointed the denunciation of 
our penal code ? What is it but to tarnish the proud 
fame of the country ? What is it but to render ques- 
tionable all its professions of regard for the rights of 
humanity and the liberties of mankind." 

A year later Mr. Webster again spoke on one 
portion of this subject, and in the same tone of 
deep hostility and reproach. This second instance 
was that famous and much quoted passage of his 
Plymouth oration in which he denounced the Af- 
rican slave-trade. Every one remembers the ring- 
ing words : — 

" I hear the sound of the hammer, I see the smoke of 
the furnaces where manacles and fetters are still forged 
for human limbs. I see the visages of those who, by 
stealth and at midnight, labor in this work of hell, — 
foul and dark as may become the artificers of such in- 
struments of misery and torture. Let that spot be puri- 
fied, or let it cease to be of New England. Let it be 
purified, or let it be set aside from the Christian world ; 
let it be put out of the circle of human sympathies and 
human regards, and let civilized man henceforth have 
no communion with it." 

This is directed against the African slave-trade, 
the most hideous feature, perhaps, in the system. 
But there was no real distinction between slavers 
plying from one American port to another and 
those which crossed the ocean for the same pur- 
pose. There was no essential difference Between 



278 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



slaves raised for the market in Virginia — whence 
they were exported and sold — and those kid- 
napped for the same object on the Guinea coast. 
The physical suffering of a land journey might 
be less than that of a long sea-voyage, but the an- 
guish of separation between mother and child was 
the same in all cases. The chains which clanked 
on the limbs of the wretched creatures, driven from 
the auction block along the road which passed be- 
neath the national capitol, and the fetters of the 
captured fugitive were no softer or lighter than 
those forged for the cargo of the slave-ships. Yet 
the man who so magnificently denounced the one in 
1820, found no cause to repeat the denunciation in 
1850, when only domestic traffic was in question. 
The memorial of 1819 and the oration of 1820 place 
the African slave-trade and the domestic branch 
of the business on precisely the same ground of 
infamy and cruelty. In 1850 Mr. Webster seems 
to have discovered that there was a wide gulf fixed 
between them, for the latter wholly failed to ex- 
cite the stern condemnation poured forth by the 
memorialist of 1819 and the orator of 1820. The 
Fugitive Slave Law, more inhuman than either of 
the forms of traffic, was defended in 1850 on good 
constitutional grounds ; but the eloquent invective 
of the early days against an evil which constitu- 
tions might necessitate but could not alter or jus- 
tify, does not go hand in hand with the legal argu- 
ment. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



279 



The next occasion after the Missouri Compro- 
mise, on which slavery made its influence strongly- 
felt at Washington, was when Mr. Adams's scheme 
of the Panama mission aroused such bitter and 
unexpected resistance in Congress. Mr. Webster 
defended the policy of the President with great 
ability, but he confined himself to the interna- 
tional and constitutional questions which it in- 
volved, and did not discuss the underlying motive 
and true source of the opposition. The debate 
on Foote's resolution in 1830, in the wide range 
which it took, of course included slavery, and Mr. 
Hayne had a good deal to say on that subject, 
which lay at the bottom of the tariff agitation, as 
it did at that of every Southern movement of any 
real importance. In his reply, Mr. Webster said 
that he had made no attack upon this sensitive 
institution, that he had simply stated that the 
Northwest had been greatly benefited by the ex- 
clusion of slavery, and that it would have been 
better for Kentucky if she had come within the 
scope of the ordinance of 1787. The weight of 
his remarks was directed to showing that the com- 
plaint of Northern attacks on slavery as existing 
in the Southern States, or of Northern schemes to 
compel the abolition of slavery, was utterly ground- 
less and fallacious. At the same time he pointed 
out the way in which slavery was continually used 
to unite the South against the North. 

" This feeling," he said, u always carefully kept alive, 



280 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



and maintained at too intense a heat to admit discrim* 
iuation or reflection, is a lever of great power in our 
political machine. There is not and never has been a 
disposition in the North to interfere with these interests 
of the South. Such interference has never been sup- 
posed to be within the power of government ; nor has it 
been in any way attempted. The slavery of the South 
has always been regarded as a matter of domestic policy 
left with the States themselves, and with which the Fed- 
eral government had nothing to do. Certainly, sir, I 
am and ever have been of that opinion. The gentle- 
man, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is no 
evil. Most assuredly, I need not say I differ with him 
altogether and most widely on that point. I regard do- 
mestic slavery as one of the greatest evils, both moral 
and political." 

His position is here clearly defined. 1 He admits 
fully that slavery within the States cannot be 
interfered with by the general government, under 
the Constitution. But he also insists that it is a 
great evil, and the obvious conclusion is, that its 
extension, over which the government does have 
control, must and should be checked. This is the 
attitude of the memorial and the oration. Nothing 
has yet changed. There is less fervor in the de- 
nunciation of slavery, but that may be fairly attrib- 
uted to circumstances which made the maintenance 
of the general government and the enforcement of 
the revenue laws the main points in issue. 

In 1836 the anti-slavery movement, destined to 
grow to such vast proportions, began to show it 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



281 



self in the Senate. The first contest came on the 
reception of petitions for the abolition of slavery 
in the District of Columbia. Mr. Calhoun moved 
that these petitions should not be received, but his 
motion was rejected by a large, majority. The 
question then came on the petitions themselves, 
and, by a vote of thirty-four to six, their prayer 
was rejected, Mr. Webster voting with the minor- 
ity because he disapproved this method of disposing 
of the matter. Soon after, Mr. Webster presented 
three similar petitions, two from Massachusetts 
and one from Michigan, and moved their reference 
to a committee of inquiry. He stated that, while 
the government had no power whatever over slav- 
ery in the States, it had complete control over 
slavery in the District, which was a totally dis- 
tinct affair. He urged a respectful treatment of 
the petitions, and defended the right of petition 
and the motives and characters of the petitioners. 
He spoke briefly, and, except when he was charged 
with placing himself at the head of the petition- 
ers, coldly, and did not touch on the merits of the 
question, either as to the abolition of slavery in 
the District or as to slavery itself. 

The Southerners, especially the extremists and 
the nullifiers, were always more ready than any 
one else to strain the powers of the central gov- 
ernment to the last point, and use them most ty- 
rannically and illegally in their own interest and in 
that of their pet institution. The session of 1836 



282 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



furnished a striking example of this characteristic 
quality. Mr. Calhoun at that time introduced his 
monstrous bill to control the United States mails 
in the interests of slavery, by authorizing post- 
masters to seize and suppress all anti-slavery 
documents. Against this measure Mr. Webster 
spoke and voted, resting his opposition on general 
grounds, and sustaining it by a strong and effect- 
ive argument. In the following j T ear, on his way 
to the North, after the inauguration of Mr. Van 
Buren, a great public reception was given to him 
in New York, and on that occasion he made the 
speech in Niblo's Garden, where he defined the 
Whig principles, arraigned so powerfully the pol- 
icy of Jackson, and laid the foundation for the 
triumphs of the Harrison campaign. In the course 
of that speech he referred to Texas, and strongly 
expressed his belief that it should remain inde- 
pendent and should not be annexed. This led him 
to touch upon slavery. He said : — 

" I frankly avow my entire unwillingness to do any- 
thing that shall extend the slavery of the African race on 
this continent, or add other slave-holding States to the 
Union. When I say that I regard slavery in itself as a 
great moral, social, and political evil, I only use the lan- 
guage which has been adopted by distinguished men, 
themselves citizens of slave-holding States. I shall do 
nothing, therefore, to favor or encourage its further ex- 
tension. We have slavery already amongst us. The 
Constitution found it in the Union, it recognized it, and 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



283 



gave it solemn guaranties. To the full extent of the 
guaranties we are all bound in honor, in justice, and by 
the Constitution. . . . But when we come to speak of 
admitting new States, the subject assumes an entirely 
different aspect. ... In my opinion, the people of the 
United States will not consent to bring into the Union a 
new, vastly extensive, and slave-holding country, large 
enough for half a dozen or a dozen States. In my 
opinion, they ought not to consent to it. . . . On the 
general question of slavery a great portion of the com- 
munity is already strongly excited. The subject has 
not only attracted attention as a question of politics, but 
it has struck a far deeper-toned chord. It has arrested 
the religious feeling of the country ; it has taken strong 
hold on the consciences of men. He is a rash man, in- 
deed, and little conversant with human nature, and espe- 
cially has he a very erroneous estimate of the character 
of the people of this country, who supposes that a feel- 
ing of this kind is to be trifled with or despised. It will 
assuredly cause itself to be respected. It may be rea- 
soned with, it may be made willing — I believe it is 
entirely willing — to fulfil all existing engagements and 
all existing duties, to uphold and defend the Constitution 
as it is established, with whatever regrets about some 
provisions which it does actually contain. But to co- 
erce it into silence, to endeavor to restrain its free 
expression, to seek to compress and confine it, warm as 
it is and more heated as such endeavors would inevita- 
bly render it, — should this be attempted, I know noth- 
ing, even in the Constitution or in the Union itself, 
which would not be endangered by the explosion which 
might follow." 



284 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Thus Mr. Webster spoke on slavery and upon 
the agitation against it, in 1837. The tone was 
the same as in 1820, and there was the same ring 
of dignified courage and unyielding opposition to 
the extension and perpetuation of a crying evil. 

In the session of Congress preceding the speech 
at Niblo's Garden, numerous petitions for the abo- 
lition of slavery in the District had been offered. 
Mr. Webster reiterated his views as to the proper 
disposition to be made of them ; but announced 
that he had no intention of expressing an opinion 
as to the merits of the question. Objections were 
made to the reception of the petitions, the ques- 
tion was stated on the reception, and the whole 
matter was laid on the table. The Senate, under 
the lead of Calhoun, was trying to shut the door 
against the petitioners, and stifle the right of peti- 
tion; and there was no John Quincy Adams among 
them to do desperate battle against this ^infamous 
scheme. 

In the following year came more petitions, and 
Mr. Calhoun now attempted to stop the agitation 
in another fashion. He introduced a resolution to 
the effect that these petitions were a direct and 
dangerous attack on the " institution " of the slave- 
holding States. This Mr. Clay improved in a 
substitute, which stated that any act or measure 
of Congress looking to the abolition of slavery in 
the District would be a violation of the faith im* 
plied in the cession by Virginia and Maryland^ — 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



285 



a just cause of alarm to the South, and having a 
direct tendency to disturb and endanger the Union* 
Mr. Webster wrote to a friend that this was an at- 
tempt to make a new Constitution, and that the 
proceedings of the Senate, when they passed the 
resolutions, drew a line which could never be ob- 
literated. Mr. Webster also spoke briefly against 
the resolutions, confining himself strictly to demon- 
strating the absurdity of Mr. Clay's doctrine of 
"plighted faith." He disclaimed carefully, and 
even anxiously, any intention of expressing an 
opinion on the merits of the question ; although 
he mentioned one or two reasonable arguments 
against abolition. The resolutions were adopted 
by a large majority, Mr. Webster voting against 
them on the grounds set forth in his speech. 
Whether the approaching presidential election 
had any connection with his careful avoidance of 
everything except the constitutional point, which 
contrasted so strongly with his recent utterances 
at Niblo's Garden, it is, of course, impossible to 
determine. John Quincy Adams, who had no 
love for Mr. Webster, and who was then in the 
midst of his desperate struggle for the right of 
petition, says, in his diary, in March, 1838, speak- 
ing of the delegation from Massachusetts : — 

" Their policy is dalliance witk the South ; and they 
care no more for the right of petition than is absolutely 
necessary to satisfy the feeling of their constituents 
They are jealous of Cushing, who, they think, is playing 



286 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



a double game. They are envious of my position as 
the supporter of the right of petition ; and they truckle 
to the South to court their favor for Webster. He is 
now himself tampering with the South on the slavery and 
the Texas question." 

This harsh judgment may or may not be cor- 
rect, but it shows very plainly that Mr. Webster's 
caution in dealing with these topics was noticed 
and criticised at this period. The annexation of 
Texas, moreover, which he had so warmly opposed, 
seemed to him, at this juncture, and not without 
reason, to be less threatening, owing to the course 
of events in the young republic. Mr. Adams did 
not, however, stand alone in thinking that Mr, 
Webster, at this time, was lukewarm on the sub- 
ject. In 1839 Mr. Giddings says "that it was im- 
possible for any man, who submitted so quietly to 
the dictation of slavery as Mr. Webster, to com- 
mand that influence which was necessary to con- 
stitute a successful politician." How much Mr. 
Webster's attitude had weakened, just at this 
period, is shown better by his own action than by 
anything Mr. Giddings could say. The ship En- 
terprise, engaged in the domestic slave-trade from 
Virginia to New Orleans, had been driven into 
Port Hamilton, and the slaves had escaped. 
Great Britain refused compensation. Thereupon, 
earty in 1840, Mr. Calhoun introduced resolutions 
declaratory of international law on this point, and 
setting forth that England had no right to inter- 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



287 



fere with, or to permit, the escape of slaves from 
vessels driven into her ports. The resolutions 
were idle, because they could effect nothing, and 
mischievous because they represented that the sen- 
timent of the Senate was in favor of protecting the 
slave-trade. Upon these resolutions, absurd in 
character and barbarous in principle, Mr. Webster 
did not even vote. There is a strange contrast 
here between the splendid denunciation of the 
Plymouth oration and this utter lack of opinion, 
upon resolutions designed to create a sentiment 
favorable to the protection of slave-ships engaged 
in the domestic traffic. Soon afterwards, when 
Mr. Webster was Secretary of State, he advanced 
much the same doctrine in the discussion of the 
Creole case, and his letter was approved by Cal- 
houn. There may be merit in the legal argument, 
but the character of the cargo, which it was sought 
to protect, put it beyond the reach of law. We 
have no need to go farther than the Plymouth 
oration to find the true character of the trade in 
human beings as carried on upon the high seas. 

After leaving the cabinet, and resuming his 
law practice, Mr. Webster, of course, continued 
to watch with attention the progress of events. 
The formation of the Liberty party, in the sum- 
mer of 1843, appeared to him a very grave cir- 
cumstance. He had always understood the force 
of the anti-slavery movement at the North, and 
it was with much anxiety that he now saw it take 



288 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



definite shape, and assume extreme grounds of op- 
position. This feeling of anxiety was heightened 
when he discovered, in the following winter, while 
in attendance upon the Supreme Court at Washing- 
ton, the intention of the administration to bring 
about the annexation of Texas, and spring the 
scheme suddenly upon the country. This policy, 
with its consequence of an enormous extension of 
slave territory, Mr. Webster had always vigorously 
and consistently opposed, and he was now thor- 
oughly alarmed. He saw what an effect the an- 
nexation would produce upon the anti-slavery 
movement, and he dreaded the results. He there- 
fore procured the introduction of a resolution in 
Congress against annexation ; wrote some articles 
in the newspapers against it himself ; stirred up 
his friends in Washington and New York to do 
the same, and endeavored to start public meetings 
in Massachusetts. His friends in Boston and else- 
where, and the Whigs generally, were disposed to 
think his alarm ill-founded. They were absorbed 
in the coming presidential election, and were too 
ready to do Mr. Webster the injustice of supposing 
that his views upon the probability of annexation 
sprang from jealousy of Mr. Clay. The suspicion 
was unfounded and unfair. Mr. Webster was 
wholly right and perfectly sincere. He did a 
good deal in an attempt to rouse the North. The 
only criticism to be made is that he did not do 
more. One public meeting would have been 



RETURN TO TEE SENATE. 



289 



enough, if he had spoken frankly, declared that he 
knew, no matter how, that annexation was con- 
templated, and had then denounced it as he did at 
Niblo's Garden. " One blast upon his bugle-horn 
were worth a thousand men." Such a speech 
would have been listened to throughout the length 
and breadth of the land ; but perhaps it was too 
much to expect this of him in view of his delicate 
relations with Mr. Clay. At a later period, in the 
course of the campaign, he denounced annexation 
and the increase of slave territory, but unfortu- 
nately it was then too late. The Whigs had pre- 
served silence on the subject at their convention, 
and it was difficult to deal with it without reflecting 
on their candidate. Mr. Webster vindicated his 
own position and his own wisdom, but the mischief 
could not then be averted. The annexation of 
Texas after the rejection of the treaty in 1844 
was carried through, nearly a year later, by a mix- 
ture of trickery and audacity in the last hours of 
the Tyler administration. 

Four days after the consummation of this proj- 
ect Mr. Webster took his seat in the Senate, and 
on March 11 wrote to his son that, "while we 
feel as we ought about the annexation of Texas, 
we ought to keep in view the true grounds of ob- 
jection to that measure. Those grounds are, — 
want of constitutional power, — danger of too 
great an extent of territory, and opposition to the 
increase of slavery and slave representation. It 

19 



290 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



was properly considered, also, as a measure tend- 
ing to produce war." He then goes on to argue 
that Mexico had no good cause for war ; but it is 
evident that he already dreaded just that result. 
When Congress assembled again, in the following 
December, the first matter to engage their attention 
was the admission of Texas as a State of the Union. 
It was impossible to prevent the passage of the 
resolution, but Mr. Webster stated his objections 
to the measure. His speech was brief and very 
mild in tone, if compared with the language which 
he had frequently used in regard to the annexa- 
tion. He expressed his opposition to this method 
of obtaining new territory by resolution instead of 
treaty, and to acquisition of territory as foreign to 
the true spirit of the Republic, and as endangering 
the Constitution and the Union by increasing the 
already existing inequality of representation, and 
extending the area of slavery. He dwelt on the 
inviolability of slavery in the States, and did not 
touch upon the evils of the system itself. 

By the following spring the policy of Mr. Polk 
had culminated, intrigue had done its perfect work, 
hostilities had been brought on with Mexico, and 
in May Congress was invited to declare a war 
which the administration had taken care should 
already exist. Mr. Webster was absent at this 
time, and did not vote on the declaration of war ; 
and when he returned he confined himself to dis- 
cussing the war measures, and to urging the cessa- 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



291 



tion of hostilities, and the renewal of efforts to ob- 
tain peace. 

The next session — that of the winter of 1846- 
47 — was occupied, of course, almost entirely with 
the affairs of the war. In these measures Mr. 
Webster took scarcely any part ; but toward 
the close of the session, when the terms on which 
the war should be concluded were brought up, 
he again came forward. February 1, 1847, 
Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced the fa- 
mous proviso, which bears his name, as an amend- 
ment to the bill appropriating three millions of 
dollars for extraordinary expenses. By this pro- 
viso slavery was to be excluded from all terri- 
tory thereafter acquired or annexed by the United 
States. A fortnight later Mr. Webster, who was 
opposed to the acquisition of more territory on any 
terms, introduced two resolutions in the Senate, 
declaring that the war ought not to be prosecuted 
for the acquisition of territory, and that Mexico 
should be informed that we did not aim at seizing 
her domain. A similar resolution was offered by Mr. 
Berrien of Georgia, and defeated by a party vote. 
On this occasion Mr. Webster spoke with great 
force and in a tone of solemn warning against 
the whole policy of territorial aggrandizement. 
He denounced all that had been done in this direc- 
tion, and attacked with telling force the Northern 
democracy, which, while it opposed slavery and 
favored the Wilmot Proviso, was yet ready to ad- 



292 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



mit new territory, even without the proviso. His 
attitude at this time, in opposition to any further 
acquisition of territory on any terms, was strong 
and determined, but his policy was a terrible con- 
fession of weakness. It amounted to saying that 
we must not acquire territory because we had not 
sufficient courage to keep slavery out of it. The 
Whigs were in a minority, however, and Mr. Web- 
ster could effect nothing. When the Wilmot Pro- 
viso came before the Senate Mr. Webster voted 
for it, but it was defeated, and the way was clear 
for Mr. Polk and the South to bring in as much 
territory as they could get, free of all conditions 
which could interfere with the extension of slavery. 
In September, 1847, after speaking and voting as 
has just been described in the previous session of 
Congress, Mr. Webster addressed the Whig con- 
vention at Springfield on the subject of the Wil- 
mot Proviso. What he then said is of great im- 
portance in any comparison which may be made 
between his earlier views and those which he after- 
wards put forward, in March, 1850, on the same 
subject. The passage is as follows : — 

" We hear much just now of a panacea for the dan- 
gers and evils of slavery and slave annexation, which 
they call the ' Wilmot Proviso.' That certainly is a just 
sentiment, but it is not a sentiment to found any new 
party upon. It is not a sentiment on which Massachu- 
setts Whigs differ. There is not a man in this hall who 
holds to it more firmly than I do,, nor one who adheres 
to it more than another. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



293 



* I feel some little interest in this matter, sir. Did I 
not commit myself in 1837 to the whole doctrine, fully, 
entirely ? And I must be permitted to say that I can- 
not quite consent that more recent discoverers should 
claim the merit, and take out a patent. 

" I deny the priority of their invention. Allow me 
to say, sir, it is not their thunder. 

" There is no one who can complain of the North for 
resisting the increase of slave representation, because it 
gives power to the minority in a manner inconsistent 
with the principles of our government. What is past 
must stand ; what is established must stand ; and with the 
same firmness with which I shall resist every plan to 
augment the slave representation, or to bring the Con- 
stitution into hazard by attempting to extend our do- 
minions, shall I contend to allow existing rights to 
remain. 

u Sir, I can only say that, in my judgment, we are 
to use the first, the last, and every occasion which oc- 
curs, in maintaining our sentiments against the exten- 
sion of the slave-power." 

In the following winter Mr. Webster continued 
his policy of opposition to all acquisitions of ter- 
ritory. Although the cloud of domestic sorrow 
was already upon hirn, he spoke against the legis- 
lative powers involved in the " Ten Regiment" 
Bill, and on the 23d of March, after the ratifica- 
tion of the treaty of peace, which carried with it 
large cessions of territory, he delivered a long and 
elaborate speech on the " Objects of the Mexican 
War." The weigh/-, of his speech was directed 



294 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



against the acquisition of territory, on account of 
its effect on the Constitution, and the increased 
inequality of representation which it involved. 
He referred to the plan of cutting up Texas so as 
to obtain ten senators, as " borough-mongering " 
on a grand scale, a course which he proposed to 
resist to the last ; and he concluded by denouncing 
the whole project as one calculated to turn the 
Constitution into a curse rather than a blessing. 
" I resist it to-day and always," he said. " Who- 
ever falters or whoever flies, I continue the con- 
test." 

In June General Taylor was nominated, and 
soon after Mr. Webster left Washington, although 
Congress was still in session. He returned in 
August, in time to take part in the settlement of 
the Oregon question. The South, with custom- 
ary shrewdness, was endeavoring to use the terri- 
torial organization of Oregon as a lever to help 
them in their struggle to gain control of the new 
conquests. A bill came up from the House with 
no provision in regard to slavery, and Mr. Douglas 
carried an amendment to it, declaring the Mis- 
souri Compromise to be in full force in Oregon. 
The House disagreed, and, on the question of re- 
ceding, Mr. Webster took occasion to speak on 
the subject of slavery in the territories. He was 
disgusted with the nomination of Taylor and with 
the cowardly silence of the Whigs on the question 
of the extension of slavery. In this frame of 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



295 



mind he made one of the strongest and best 
speeches he ever delivered on this topic. He de- 
nied that slavery was an " institution ; " he denied 
that the local right to hold slaves implied the 
right of the owner to carry them with him and 
keep them in slavery on free soil ; he stated in 
the strongest possible manner the right of Con- 
gress to control slavery or to prohibit it in the 
territories ; and he concluded with a sweeping 
declaration of his opposition to any extension of 
slavery or any increase of slave representation. 
The Oregon bill finally passed under the pressure 
of the u Free-Soil " nominations, with a clause in- 
serted in the House, embodying substantially the 
principles of the Wilmot Proviso. 

When Congress adjourned, Mr. Webster re- 
turned to Marshfield, where he made the speech, 
on the nomination of General Taylor. It was 
a crisis in his life. At that moment he could 
have parted with the Whigs and put himself at 
the head of the constitutional anti-slavery party. 
The Free-Soilers had taken the very ground 
against the extension of slavery which he had so 
long occupied. He could have gone consistently, 
he could have separated from the Whigs on a great 
question of principle, and such a course would 
have been no stronger evidence of personal disap- 
pointment than was afforded by the declaration 
that the nomination of Taylor was one not fit to 
be made. Mr. Webster said that he fully con- 



296 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



curred in the main object of the Buffalo Conven- 
tion, that he was as good a Free-Soiler as any of 
them, but that the Free-Soil part} 7 presented noth- 
ing new or valuable, and he did not believe in 
Mr. Van Buren. He then said it was not true 
that General Taylor was nominated by the Souths 
as charged by the Free-Soilers ; but he did not 
confess, what was equally true, that Taylor was 
nominated through fear of the South, as was 
shown by his election by Southern votes. Mr. 
Webster's conclusion was, that it was safer to 
trust a slave-holder, a man without known politi- 
cal opinions, and a party which had not the cour- 
age of its convictions, than to run the risk of the 
election of another Democrat. Mr. Webster's place 
at that moment was at the head of a new party 
based on the principles which he had himself for- 
mulated against the extension of slavery. Such a 
change might have destroyed his chances for the 
presidency, if he had any, but it would have given 
him one of the greatest places in American his- 
tory and made him the leader in the new period. 
He lost his opportunity. He did not change his 
party, but he soon after accepted the other alter- 
native and changed his opinions. 

His course once taken, he made the best of it, 
and delivered a speech in Faneuil Hall, in which 
it is painful to see the effort to push aside slavery 
and bring forward the tariff and the sub-treasury. 
He scoffed at this absorption in " one idea," and 



RETURN TO THE SENATE, 



297 



strove to thrust it away. It was the cry of " peace, 
peace," when there was no peace, and when Dan- 
iel Webster knew there could be none until the 
momentous question had been met and settled. 
Like the great composer who heard in the first 
notes of his symphony 4 4 the hand of Fate knock- 
ing at the door," the great New England states- 
man heard the same warning in the hoarse mur- 
mur against slavery, but he shut his ears to the 
dread sound and passed on. 

When Mr. Webster returned to Washington, 
after the election of General Taylor, the strife had 
already begun over our Mexican conquests. The 
South had got the territory, and the next point 
was to fasten slavery upon it. The North was 
resolved to prevent the further spread of slavery, 
but was by no means so determined or so clear in 
its views as its opponent. President Polk urged 
in his message that Congress should not legislate 
on the question of slavery in the territories, but 
that if they did, the right of slave-holders to carry 
their slaves with them to the new lands should be 
recognized, and that the best arrangement was to 
extend the line of the Missouri Compromise to 
the Pacific. For the originator and promoter of 
the Mexican war this was a very natural solution, 
and was a fit conclusion to one of the worst presi- 
dential careers this country has ever seen. The 
plan had only one defect. It would not work. 
One scheme after another was brought before the 



298 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Senate, only to fail. Finally, Mr. Webster intra 
duced his own, which was merely to authorize mil- 
itary government and the maintenance of existing 
laws in the Mexican cessions, and a consequent 
postponement of the question. The proposition 
was reasonable and sensible, but it fared little 
better than the others. The Southerners found, 
as they always did sooner or later, that facts were 
against them. The people of New Mexico peti- 
tioned for a territorial government and for the ex- 
clusion of slavery. Mr. Calhoun pronounced this 
action " insolent." Slavery was not only to be per- 
mitted, but the United States government was to be 
made to force it upon the people of the territories. 
Finally, a resolution was offered " to extend the 
Constitution" to the territories, — one of those 
utterly vague propositions in which the South de- 
lighted to hide well-defined schemes for extending, 
not the Constitution, but slave-holding, to fresh 
fields and virgin soil. This gave rise to a sharp 
debate between Mr. Webster and Mr. Calhoun as 
to whether the Constitution extended to the terri- 
tories or not. Mr. Webster upheld the latter 
view, and the discussion is chiefly interesting from 
the fact that Mr. Webster got the better of Mr. 
Calhoun in the argument, and as an example of 
the latter 's excessive ingenuity in sustaining and 
defending a more than doubtful proposition. The 
result of the whole business was, that nothing was 
done, except to extend the revenue laws of the 
United States to New Mexico and California. 



RETURN TO THE SENATE. 



299 



Before Congress again assembled, one of the 
subjects of their debates had taken its fortunes 
into its own hands. California, rapidly peopled 
by the discoveries of gold, had held a convention 
and adopted a frame of government with a clause 
prohibiting slavery. When Congress met, the 
Senators and Representatives of California were 
in Washington with their free Constitution in 
their hands, demanding the admission of their 
State into the Union. 

New Mexico was involved in a dispute with 
Texas as to boundaries, and if the claim of Texas 
was sanctioned, two thirds of the disputed terri- 
tory would come within the scope of the annexa- 
tion resolutions, and be slave-holding States. 
Then there was the further question whether the 
Wilmot Proviso should be applied to New Mexico 
on her organization as a territory. 

The President, acting under the influence of 
Mr. Seward, advised that California should be ad- 
mitted, and the question of slavery in the other 
territories be decided when they should apply 
for admission. Feeling was running very high 
in Washington, and there was a bitter and pro- 
tracted struggle of three weeks, before the House 
succeeded in choosing a Speaker. The State Leg- 
islatures on both sides took up the burning ques- 
tion, and debated and resolved one way or the 
other with great excitement. The Southern mem- 
bers held meetings, and talked about secession and 



300 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



about withdrawing from Congress. The air was 
full of murmurs of dissolution and intestine strife, 
The situation was grave and even threatening. 

In this state of affairs Mr. Clay, now an old 
man, and with but a short term of life before him, 
resolved to try once more to solve the problem 
and tide over the dangers by a grand compromise. 
The main features of his plan were : the admission 
of California with her free Constitution ; the organ- 
ization of territorial governments in the Mexican 
conquests without any reference to slavery; the 
adjustment of the Texan boundary; a guaranty 
of the existence of slavery in the District of 
Columbia until Maryland should consent to its 
abolition ; the prohibition of the slave-trade in 
the District ; provision for the more effectual en- 
forcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, and a dec- 
laration that Congress had no power over the 
slave-trade between the slave-holding States. As 
the admission of California was certain, the prop- 
osition to bring about the prohibition of the slave- 
trade in the District was the only concession to 
the North. Everything else was in the interest 
of the South ; but then that was always the man- 
ner in which compromises with slavery were made. 
They could be effected in no other way. 

This outline Mr. Clay submitted to Mr. Web- 
ster January 21, 1850, and Mr. Webster gave it 
his full approval, subject, of course, to further 
and more careful consideration. February 5 Mr. 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 



301 



Clay introduced his plan in the Senate, and sup- 
ported it in an eloquent speech. On the 13th the 
President submitted the Constitution of Califor- 
nia, and Mr. Foote moved to refer it, together with 
all matters relating to slavery, to a select commit- 
tee. It now became noised about that Mr. Web- 
ster intended to address the Senate on the pending 
measures, and on the 7th of March he delivered 
the memorable speech which has always been 
known by its date. 

It may be premised that in a literary and 
rhetorical point of view the speech of the 7th 
of March was a fine one. The greater part of 
it is taken up with argument and statement, and 
is very quiet in tone. But the famous passage 
beginning " peaceable secession," which came 
straight from the heart, and the peroration also, 
have the glowing eloquence which shone with so 
much splendor all through the reply to Hayne. 
The speech can be readily analyzed. With ex- 
treme calmness of language Mr. Webster dis- 
cussed the whole history of slavery in ancient 
and modern times, and under the Constitution, 
of the United States. His attitude is so judicial 
and historical, that if it is clear he disapproved 
of the system, it is not equally evident that he 
condemned it. He reviewed the history of the 
annexation of Texas, defended his own consis- 
tency, belittled the Wilmot Proviso, admitted sub- 
stantially the boundary claims of Texas, and de- 



302 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



clared that the character of every part of the 
country, so far as slavery or freedom was con- 
cerned, was now settled, either by law or nature, 
and that he should resist the insertion of the Wil- 
niot Proviso in regard to New Mexico, because it 
would be merely a wanton taunt and reproach to 
the South. He then spoke of the change of feel- 
ing and opinion both at the North and the South 
in regard to slavery, and passed next to the ques- 
tion of mutual grievances. He depicted at length 
the grievances of the South, including the tone of 
the Northern press, the anti-slavery resolutions 
of the Legislature, the utterances of the abolition- 
ists, and the resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law. 
The last, which he thought the only substantial 
and legally remediable complaint, he dwelt on at 
great length, and severely condemned the refusal 
of certain States to comply with this provision of 
the Constitution. Then came the grievances of the 
North against the South, which were dealt with 
very briefly. In fact, the Northern grievances, ac- 
cording to Mr. Webster, consisted of the tone of 
the Southern press and of Southern speeches which, 
it must be confessed, were at times a little violent 
and somewhat offensive. The short paragraph re- 
citing the unconstitutional and high-handed action 
of the South in regard to free negroes employed as 
seamen on Northern vessels, and the outrageous 
treatment of Mr. Hoar at Charleston in connec- 
tion with this matter, was not delivered, Mr. Gid- 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 303 

dings says, but was inserted afterwards and before 
publication, at the suggestion of a friend. After 
this came the fine burst about secession, and a 
declaration of faith that the Southern convention 
called at Nashville would prove patriotic and con- 
ciliatory. The speech concluded with a strong 
appeal in behalf of nationality and union. 

Mr. Curtis correctly says that a great majority 
of Mr. Webster's constituents, if not of the whole 
North, disapproved this speech. He might have 
added that that majority has steadily increased. 
The popular verdict has been given against the 
7th of March speech, and that verdict has passed 
into history. Nothing can now be said or written 
which will alter the fact that the people of this 
country who maintained and saved the Union 
have passed judgment upon Mr. Webster and con- 
demned what he said on the 7th of March, 1850, 
as wrong in principle and mistaken in policy. 
This opinion is not universal, — no opinion is, — 
but it is held by the great body of mankind who 
know or care anything about the subject, and it 
cannot be changed or substantially modified, be- 
cause subsequent events have fixed its place and 
worth irrevocably. It is only necessary, there- 
fore, to examine very briefly the grounds of this 
adverse judgment, and the pleas put in against it 
by Mr. Webster and by his most devoted partisans. 

From the sketch which has been given of Mr. 
Webster's course on the slavery question, we see 



304 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



that in 1819 and 1820 he denounced in the strong- 
est terms slavery and every form of slave-trade; 
that while he fully admitted that Congress had no 
power to touch slavery in the States, he asserted 
that it was their right and their paramount duty 
absolutely to stop any further extension of slave 
territory. In 1 820 he was opposed to any compro- 
mise on this question. Ten years later he stood 
out to the last, unaffected by defeat, against the 
principle of compromise which sacrificed the rights 
and the dignity of the general government to the 
resistance and threatened secession of a State. 

After the reply to Hayne in 1830, Mr. Webster 
became a standing candidate for the presidencj 7 , 
or for the Whig nomination to that office. From 
that time forth the sharp denunciation of slavery 
and traffic in slaves disappears, although there is 
no indication that he ever altered his original 
opinion on these points ; but he never ceased, 
sometimes mildly, sometimes in the most vigorous 
and sweeping manner, to attack and oppose the 
extension of slavery to new regions, and the in- 
crease of slave territory. If, then, in the 7th of 
March speech, he was inconsistent with his past, 
such inconsistency must appear, if at all, in his 
general tone in regard to slavery, in his views as 
to the policy of compromise, and in his attitude 
toward the extension of slavery, the really crucial 
question of the time. 

As to the first point, there can be no doubt that 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH 305 

there is a vast difference between the tone of the 
Plymouth oration and the Boston memorial toward 
slavery and the slave-trade, and that of the 7th of 
March speech in regard to the same subjects. For 
many years Mr. Webster had had but little to say 
against slavery as a system, but in the 7th of 
March speech, in reviewing the history of slavery, 
he treats the matter in such a very calm manner, 
that he not only makes the best case possible for 
the South, but his tone is almost apologetic when 
speaking in their behalf. To the grievances of 
the South he devotes more than five pages of his 
speech, to those of the North less than two. As 
to the infamy of making the national capital a 
great slave-mart, he has nothing to say — although 
it was a matter which figured as one of the ele- 
ments in Mr. Clay's scheme. 

But what most shocked the North in this con- 
nection were his utterances in regard to the Fu- 
gitive Slave Law. There can be no doubt that 
under the Constitution the South had a perfect 
right to claim the extradition of fugitive slaves. 
The legal argument in support of that right was 
excellent, but the Northern people could not feel 
that it was necessary for Daniel Webster to make 
it. The Fugitive Slave Law was in absolute con- 
flict with the awakened conscience and moral sen- 
timent of the North. To strengthen that law, 
and urge its enforcement, was a sure way to make 
the resistance to it still more violent and intot 

20 



306 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



erant. Constitutions and laws will prevail over 
much, and allegiance to them is a high duty, but 
when they come into conflict with a deep-rooted 
moral sentiment, and with the principles of liberty 
and humanity, they must be modified, or else they 
will be broken to pieces. That this should have 
been the case in 1850 was no doubt to be regretted, 
but it was none the less a fact. To insist upon the 
constitutional duty of returning fugitive slaves, 
to upbraid the North with their opposition, and 
to urge upon them and upon the country the 
strict enforcement of the extradition law, was cer- 
tain to embitter and intensify the opposition to it. 
The statesmanlike course was to recognize the 
ground of Northern resistance, to show the South 
that a too violent insistence upon their constitu- 
tional rights would be fatal, and to endeavor to 
obtain such concessions as would allay excited feel- 
ings. Mr. Webster's strong argument in favor of 
the Fugitive Slave Law pleased the South, of course ; 
but it irritated and angered the North. It pro- 
moted the very struggle which it proposed to al- 
lay, for it admitted the existence of only one side 
to the question. The consciences of men cannot 
be coerced ; and when Mr. Webster undertook to 
do it he dashed himself against the rocks. People 
did not stop to distinguish between a legal argu- 
ment and a defence of the merits of catching run- 
away slaves. To refer to the original law of 1793 
was idle. Public opinion had changed in half a 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 307 



century ; and what had seemed reasonable at the 
close of the eighteenth century was monstrous in 
the middle of the nineteenth. 

All this Mr. Webster declined to recognize. 
He upheld without diminution or modification 
the constitutional duty of sending escaping slaves 
back to bondage ; and from the legal soundness of 
this position there is no escape. The trouble was 
that he had no word to say against the cruelty 
and barbarity of the system. To insist upon the 
necessity of submitting to the hard and repulsive 
duty imposed by the Constitution was one thing. 
To urge submission without a word of sorrow or 
regret was another. The North felt, and felt 
rightly, that while Mr. Webster could not avoid 
admitting the force of the constitutional provisions 
about fugitive slaves, and was obliged to bow to 
their behest, yet to defend them without reserva- 
tion, to attack those who opposed them, and to 
urge the rigid enforcement of a Fugitive Slave 
Law, was not in consonance with his past, his 
conscience, and his duty to his constituents. The 
constitutionality of a Fugitive Slave Law may be 
urged and admitted over and over again, but this 
could not make the North believe that advocacy of 
slave-catching was a task suited to Daniel Webster. 
The simple fact was that he did not treat the gen- 
eral question of slavery as he always had treated 
it. Instead of denouncing and deploring it, and 
striking at it whenever the Constitution per- 



308 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



mitted, he apologized for its existence, and urged 
the enforcement of its most obnoxious laws. This 
was not his attitude in 1820; this was not what 
the people of the North expected of him in 1850. 

In regard to the policy of compromise there is a 
much stronger contrast between Mr. Webster's 
attitude in 1850 and his earlier course than in the 
case of his views on the general subject of slavery,, 
In 1819, although not in public life, Mr. Webster, 
as is clear from the tone of the Boston memorial, 
was opposed to any compromise involving an ex- 
tension of slavery. In 1832-33 he was the most 
conspicuous and unyielding enemy of the principle 
of compromise in the country. He then took the 
ground that the time had come to test the strength 
of the Constitution and the Union, and that any 
concession would have a fatally weakening effect. 
In 1850 he supported a compromise which was so 
one-sided that it hardly deserves the name. The 
defence offered by his friends on this subject — 
and it is the strongest point they have been able 
to make — is that these sacrifices, or compromises, 
were necessary to save the Union, and that — al- 
though they did not prevent ultimate secession — 
they caused a delay of ten years, which enabled 
the North to gather sufficient strength to carry 
the civil war to a successful conclusion. It is not 
difficult to show historically that the policy of 
compromise between the national principle and 
unlawful opposition to that principle was an en* 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 



309 



tire mistake from the very outset, and that if ille- 
gal and partisan State resistance had always been 
put down with a firm hand, civil war might have 
been avoided. Nothing strengthened the general 
government more than the well-judged and well- 
timed display of force by which Washington and 
Hamilton crushed the Whiskey Rebellion, or than 
the happy accident of peace in 1814, which brought 
the separatist movement in New England to a sud- 
den end. After that period Mr. Clay's policy of 
compromise prevailed, and the result was that the 
separatist movement was identified with the main- 
tenance of slavery, and steadily gathered strength. 
In 1819 the South threatened and blustered in 
order to prevent the complete prohibition of slav- 
ery in the Louisiana purchase. In 1832 South 
Carolina passed the nullification ordinance because 
she suffered by the operation of a protective tariff. 
In 1850 a great advance had been made in their 
pretensions. Secession was threatened because 
the South feared that the Mexican conquests would 
not be devoted to the service of slavery. Nothing 
had been done, nothing was proposed even, preju- 
dicial to Southern interests ; but the inherent weak- 
ness of slavery, and the mild conciliatory attitude 
of Northern statesmen, incited the South to make 
imperious demands for favors, and seek for positive 
gains. They succeeded in 1850, and in 1860 they 
had reached the point at which they were ready 
to plunge the country into the horrors of civil war 



310 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



solely because they lost an election. They be- 
lieved, first, that the North would yield every- 
thing for the sake of union, and secondly, that if 
there was a limit to their capacity for surrender in 
this direction, yet a people capable of so much 
submission in the past would never fight to. main- 
tain the Union. The South made a terrible mis- 
take, and was severely punished for it; but the 
compromises of 1820, 1833, and 1850 furnished 
some excuse for the wild idea that the North 
would not and could not fight. Whether a strict 
adherence to the strong, fearless policy of Hamil- 
ton, which was adopted by Jackson and advocated 
by Webster in 1832-33, would have prevented 
civil war, must, of course, remain matter of con- 
jecture. It is at least certain that in that way 
alone could war have been avoided, and that the 
Clay policy of compromise made war inevitable 
by encouraging slave-holders to believe that they 
could always obtain anything they wanted by a 
sufficient show of violence. 

It is urged, however, that the policy of com- 
promise having been adopted, a change in 1850 
would have simply precipitated the sectional con- 
flict. In judging Mr. Webster, the practical ques- 
tion, of course, is as to the best method of deal- 
ing with matters as they actually were and not 
as they might have been had a different course 
been pursued in 1820 and 1832. The partisans 
of Mr. Webster have always taken the ground 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 311 



that in 1850 the choice was between compromise 
and secession ; that the events of 1861 showed 
that the South, in 1850, was not talking for mere 
effect ; that the maintenance of the Union was the 
paramount consideration of a patriotic statesman ; 
and that the only practicable and proper course 
was to compromise. Admitting fully that Mr. 
Webster's first and highest duty was to preserve 
the Union, it is perfectly clear now, when all these 
events have passed into history, that he took the 
surest way to make civil war inevitable, and that 
the position of 1832 should not have been aban- 
doned. In the first place, the choice was not con- 
fined to compromise or secession. The President, 
the official head of the Whig party, had recom- 
mended the admission of California, as the only 
matter actually requiring immediate settlement, 
and that the other questions growing out of the 
new territories should be dealt with as they arose. 
Mr. Curtis, Mr. Webster's biographer, says this 
was an impracticable plan, because peace could 
not be kept between New Mexico and Texas, and 
because there was great excitement about the 
slavery question throughout the country. These 
seem very insufficient reasons, and only the first 
has any practical bearing on the matter. Gen- 
eral Taylor said : Admit California, for that is an 
immediate and pressing duty, and I will see to it 
that peace is preserved on the Texan boundary. 
Zachary Taylor may not have been a great states* 



312 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



man, but he was a brave and skilful soldier, and 
an honest man, resolved to maintain the Union, 
even if he had to shoot a few Texans to do it. 
His policy was bold and manly, and the fact that 
it was said to have been inspired by Mr. Seward, 
a leader in the only Northern party which had 
any real principle to fight for, does not seem such 
a monstrous idea as it did in 1850 or does still to 
those who sustain Mr. Webster's action. That 
General Taylor's policy was not so wild and im- 
practicable as Mr. Webster's friends would have 
us think, is shown by the fact that Mr. Benton, 
Democrat and Southerner as he was, but imbued 
with the vigor of the Jackson school, believed that 
each question should be taken up by itself and 
settled on its own merits. A policy which seemed 
wise to three such different men as Taylor, Sew- 
ard, and Benton, could hardly have been so utterly 
impracticable and visionary as Mr. Webster's par- 
tisans would like the world to believe. It was in 
fact one of the cases which that extremely practical 
statesman Nicolo Machiavelli had in mind when 
he wrote that, " Dangers that are seen afar off 
are easily prevented ; but protracting till they are 
near at hand, the remedies grow unseasonable and 
the malady incurable." 

It may be readily admitted that there was a 
great and perilous political crisis in 1850, as Mr. 
Webster said. In certain quarters, in the excite- 
ment of party strife, there was a tendency to de- 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 313 

ride Mr. Webster as a " Union-saver," and to take 
the ground that there had been no real danger of 
secession. This, as we can see now very plainly, 
was an unfounded idea. When Congress met, the 
danger of secession was very real, although per- 
haps not very near. The South, although they 
intended to secede as a last resort, had no idea 
that they should be brought to that point. Men- 
aces of disunion, ominous meetings and conven- 
tions, they probably calculated, would effect their 
purpose and obtain for them what they wanted, 
and subsequent events proved that they were per- 
fectly right in this opinion. On February 14 Mr. 
Webster wrote to Mr Harvey : — 

" I do not partake in any degree in those apprehen- 
sions which you say some of our friends entertain of the 
dissolution of the Union or the breaking up of the gov- 
ernment. I am mortified, it is true, at the violent tone 
assumed here by many persons, because such violence in 
debate only leads to irritation, and is, moreover, dis- 
creditable to the government and the country. But 
there is no serious danger, be assured, and so assure our 
friends." 

The next day he wrote to Mr. Furness, a leader 
of the anti-slavery party, expressing his abhor- 
rence of slavery as an institution, his unwilling- 
ness to break up the existing political system to 
secure its abolition, and his belief that the whole 
matter must be left with Divine Providence. It 
is clear from this letter that he had dismissed any 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



thought of assuming an aggressive attitude toward 
slavery, but there is nothing to indicate that he 
thought the Union could be saved from wreck 
only by substantial concessions to the South. Be- 
tween the date of the letter to Harvey and March 
7, Mr. Curtis says that the aspect of affairs had 
materially changed, and that the Union was in 
serious peril. There is nothing to show that Mr. 
Webster thought so, or that he had altered the 
opinion which he had expressed on February 14. 
In fact, Mr. Curtis's view is the exact reverse of 
the true state of affairs. If there was any real 
and immediate danger to the Union, it existed on 
February 14, and ceased immediately afterwards, 
on February 16, as Dr. Von Hoist correctly says, 
when the House of Representatives laid on the 
table the resolution of Mr. Root of Ohio, prohib- 
iting the extension of slavery to the territories. 
By that vote, the victory was won by the slave- 
power, and the peril of speedy disunion vanished. 
Nothing remained but to determine how much the 
South would get from their victory, and how hard 
a bargain they could drive. The admission of 
California was no more of a concession than a res- 
olution not to introduce slavery in Massachusetts 
would have been. All the rest of the compromise 
plan, with the single exception of the prohibition 
of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, was 
made up of concessions to the Southern and slave- 
holding interest. That Henry Clay should have 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 315 



originated and advocated this scheme was per- 
fectly natural. However wrong or mistaken, this 
had been his steady and unbroken policy from the 
outset, as the best method of preserving the Union 
and advancing the cause of nationality. Mr. Clay 
was consistent and sincere, and, however much he 
may have erred in his general theory, he never 
swerved from it. But with Mr. Webster the case 
was totally different. He had opposed the prin- 
ciple of compromise from the beginning, and in 
1833, when concession was more reasonable than 
in 1850, he had offered the most strenuous and un- 
bending resistance. Now he advocated a compro- 
mise which was in reality little less than a com- 
plete surrender on the part of the North. On the 
general question of compromise he was, of course, 
grossly inconsistent, and the history of the time, 
as it appears in the cold light of the present clay, 
shows plainly that, while he was brave and true 
and wise in 1833, in 1850 he was not only incon- 
sistent, but that he erred deeply in policy and 
statesmanship. It has also been urged in behalf 
of Mr. Webster that he went no farther than the 
Republicans in 1860 in the way of concession, and 
that as in 1860 so in 1850, anything was permis- 
sible which served to gain time. In the first 
place, the tn quoque argument proves nothing 
and has no weight. In the second place, the situ- 
ations in 1850 and in 1860 were very different. 
There were at the former period, in reference to 



316 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 



slavery, four parties in the country — the Demo- 
crats, the Free-Soilers, the Abolitionists, and the 
Whigs. The three first had fixed and widely- 
varying opinions ; the last was trying to live with- 
out opinions, and soon died. The pro-slavery 
Democrats were logical and practical; the Aboli- 
tionists were equally logical but thoroughly im- 
practicable and unconstitutional, avowed nullifiers 
and secessionists; the Free-Soilers were illogical, 
constitutional, and perfectly practical. As Repub- 
licans, the Free-Soilers proved the correctness and 
good sense of their position by bringing the great 
majority of the Northern people to their support. 
But at the same time their position was a diffi- 
cult one, for while they were an anti-slavery party 
and had sft on foot constitutional opposition to 
the extension of slavery, their fidelity to the Con- 
stitution compelled them to admit the legality of 
the Fugitive Slave Law and of slavery in the 
States. They aimed, of course, first to check the 
extension of slavery and then to efface it by grad- 
ual restriction and full compensation to slave-hold- 
ers. When they had carried the country in 1860, 
they found themselves face to face with a break- 
ing Union and an impending war. That many of 
them were seriously frightened, and, to avoid war 
and dissolution, would have made great conces- 
sions, cannot be questioned ; but their controlling 
motive was to hold things together by any means, 
no matter how desperate, until they could get 



THE SE VENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 



317 



possession of the government. This was the only 
possible and the only wise policy, but that it 
involved them in some contradictions in that win- 
ter of excitement and confusion is beyond doubt. 
History will judge the men and events of 1860 ac- 
cording to the circumstances of the time, but noth- 
ing that happened then has any bearing on Mr. 
Webster's conduct. He must be judged according 
to the circumstances of 1850, and the first and most 
obvious fact is, that he was not fighting merely to 
gain time and obtain control of the general gov- 
ernment. The crisis was grave and serious in the 
extreme, but neither war nor secession were im- 
minent or immediate, nor did Mr. Webster ever 
assert that they were. He thought war and seces- 
sion might come, and it was against this possibility 
and probability that he sought to provide. He 
wished to solve the great problem, to remove the 
source of danger, to set the menacing agitation 
at rest. He aimed at an enduring and definite 
settlement, and that was the purpose of the 7th 
of March speech. His reasons — and of course 
they were clear and weighty in his own mind — 
proceeded from the belief that this wretched com- 
promise measure offered a wise, judicious, and 
permanent settlement of questions which, in their 
constant recurrence, threatened more and more the 
stability of the Union. History has shown how 
wofully mistaken he was in this opinion. 

The last point to be considered in connection 



318 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



with the 7th of March speech is the ground then 
taken by Mr. Webster with reference to the ex- 
tension of slavery. To this question the speech 
was chiefly directed, and it is the portion which 
has aroused the most heated discussion. What 
Mr. Webster's views had always been on the sub- 
ject of slavery extension every one knew then and 
knows now. He had been the steady and uncom- 
promising opponent of the Southern policy, and in 
season and out of season, sometimes vehemently 
sometimes gently, but always with firmness and 
clearness, he had declared against it. The only 
question is, whether he departed from these often- 
expressed opinions on the 7th of March. In the 
speech itself he declared that he had not abated 
, one jot in his views in this respect, and he argued 
at great length to prove his consistency, which, if 
it were to be easily seen of men, certainly needed 
neither defence nor explanation. The crucial point 
was, whether, in organizing the new territories, 
the principle of the Wilmot Proviso should be 
adopted as part of the measure. This famous pro- 
viso Mr. Webster had declared in 1847 to repre- 
sent exactly his own views. He had then denied 
that the idea was the invention of any one man, 
and scouted the notion that on this doctrine there 
could be any difference of opinion among Whigs. 
On March 7 he announced that he would not 
have the proviso attached to the territorial bills, 
and should oppose any effort in that direction. 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 319 

The reasons he gave for this apparent change were, 
that nature had forbidden slavery in the newly- 
conquered regions, and that the proviso, under 
such circumstances, would be a useless taunt and 
wanton insult to the South. The famous sentence 
in which he said that he " would not take pains 
uselessly to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor 
to reenact the will of God," was nothing but spe- 
cious and brilliant rhetoric. It was perfectly easy 
to employ slaves in California, if the people had 
not prohibited it, and in New Mexico as well, even 
if there were no cotton nor sugar nor rice planta- 
tions in either, and but little arable land in the 
latter. There was a classic form of slave-labor 
possible in those countries. Any school-boy could 
have reminded Mr. Webster of 

" Seius whose eight hundred slaves 
Sicken in Ilva's mines." 

Mining was one of the oldest uses to which 
slave-labor had been applied, and it still flourished 
in Siberia as the occupation of serfs and criminals. 
Mr. Webster, of course, was not ignorant of this 
very obvious fact ; and that nature, therefore, 
instead of forbidding slave-labor in the Mexican 
conquests, opened to it a new and almost unlim- 
ited field in a region which is to-day one of the 
greatest mining countries in the world. Still less 
could he have failed to know that this form of 
employment for slaves was eagerly desired by the 
South ; that the slave-holders fully recognized 



320 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



their opportunity, announced their intention of 
taking advantage of it, and were particularly in- 
dignant at the action of California because it had 
closed to them this inviting field. Mr. Clingman 
of North Carolina, on January 22, when engaged 
in threatening war in order to bring the North to 
terras, had said, in the House of Representatives : 
" But for the anti-slavery agitation our Southern 
slave-holders would have carried their negroes into 
the mines of California in such numbers that I have 
no doubt but that the majority there would have 
made it a slave-holding State." 1 At a later period 
Mr. Mason of Virginia declared, in the Senate, 
that he knew of no law of nature which excluded 
slavery from California. " On the contrary," he 
said, " if California had been organized with a ter- 
ritorial form of government only, the people of the 
Southern States would have gone there freely, and 
have taken their slaves there in great numbers. 
They would have done so because the value of the 
labor of that class would have been augmented 
to them many hundred fold." 2 These were the 
views of practical men and experienced slave-own- 
ers who represented the opinions of their con- 
stituents, and who believed that domestic slavery 
could be employed to advantage anywhere. More- 
over, the Southern leaders openly avowed their 
opposition to securing any region to free labor 

1 Congressional Globe, 31st Congress, 1st Session, p. 203. 

2 Ibid., Appendix, p. 510. 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 



321 



exclusively, no matter what the ordinances of 
nature might be. In 1848, it must be remem- 
bered in this connection, Mr. Webster not only 
urged the limitation of slave area, and sustained 
the power of Congress to regulate this matter in 
the territories, but he did not resist the final em- 
bodiment of the principle of the Wilmot Proviso in 
the bill for the organization of Oregon, where the 
introduction of slavery was infinitely more unlikely 
than in New Mexico. Cotton, sugar, and rice were 
excluded, perhaps, by nature from the Mexican 
conquests, but slavery was not. It was worse than 
idle to allege that a law of nature forbade slaves 
in a country where mines gaped to receive them. 
The facts are all as plain as possible, and there is 
no escape from the conclusion that in opposing the 
Wilmot Proviso, in 1850, Mr. Webster abandoned 
his principles as to the extension of slavery. He 
practically stood forth as the champion of the 
Southern policy of letting the new territories 
alone, which could only result in placing them 
in the grasp of slavery. The consistency which 
he labored so hard to prove in his speech was 
hopelessly shattered, and no ingenuity, either then 
or since, can restore it. 

A dispassionate examination of Mr. Webster's 
previous course on slavery, and a careful com- 
parison of it with the ground taken in the 7th 
of March speech, shows that he softened his ut- 
terances in regard to slavery as a system, and 

21 



322 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



that he changed radically on the policy of com* 
promise and on the question of extending the area 
of slavery. There is a confused story that in the 
winter of 1847-48 he had given the anti-slavery 
leaders to understand that he proposed to come 
out on their ground in regard to Mexico, and to 
sustain Corwin in his attack on the Democratic 
policy, but that he failed to do so. The evidence 
on this point is entirely insufficient to make it of 
importance, but there can be no doubt that in the 
winter of 1850 Mr. Webster talked with Mr. Gid- 
dings, and led him, and the other Free-Soil leaders, 
to believe that he was meditating a strong anti- 
slavery speech. This fact was clearly shown in 
the recent newspaper controversy which grew out 
of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of 
Webster's birth. It is a little difficult to under- 
stand why this incident should have roused such 
bitter resentment among Mr. Webster's surviving 
partisans. To suppose that Mr. Webster made 
the 7th of March speech after long deliberation, 
without having a moment's hesitation in the mat- 
ter, is to credit him with a shameless disregard of 
principle and consistency, of which it is impossi- 
ble to believe him guilty. He undoubtedly hesi- 
tated, and considered deeply whether he should 
assume the attitude of 1833, and stand out un- 
relentingly against the encroachments of slavery. 
He talked with Mr. Clay on one side. He talked 
with Mr. Giddings, and other Free-Soilers, on the 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH 323 



other. With the latter the wish was no doubt 
father to the thought, and they may well have 
imagined that Mr. Webster had determined to 
go with them, when he was still in doubt and 
merely trying the various positions. There is 
no need, however, to linger over matters of this 
sort. The change made by Mr. Webster can be 
learned best by careful study of his own utter- 
ances, and of his whole career. Yet, at the same 
time, the greatest trouble lies not in the shifting 
and inconsistency revealed by an examination of 
the specific points which have just been discussed, 
but in the speech as a whole. In that speech Mr. 
Webster failed quite as much by omissions as 
by the opinions which he actually announced. 
He was silent when he should have spoken, and he 
spoke when he should have held his peace. The 
speech, if exactly defined, is, in reality, a powerful 
effort, not for compromise or for the Fugitive Slave 
Law, or any other one thing, but to arrest the whole 
anti-slavery movement, and in that way put an end 
to the dangers which threatened the Union and 
restore lasting harmony between the jarring sec- 
tions. It was a mad project. Mr. Webster might 
as well have attempted to stay the incoming tide 
at Marshfield with a rampart of sand as to seek 
to check the anti-slavery movement by a speech. 
Nevertheless, he produced a great effect. His 
mind once made up, he spared nothing to win the 
cast. He gathered all his forces ; his great intel- 



324 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



lect, his splendid eloquence, his fame which had 
become one of the treasured possessions of his 
country, — all were given to the work. The blow 
fell with terrible force, and here, at last, we come 
to the real mischief which was wrought. The 7th 
of March speech demoralized New England and 
the whole North. The abolitionists showed by 
bitter anger the pain, disappointment, and dismay 
which this speech brought. The Free-Soil party 
quivered and sank for the moment beneath the 
shock. The whole anti-slavery movement recoiled. 
The conservative reaction which Mr. Webster en- 
deavored to produce came and triumphed. ] Chiefly 
by his exertions the compromise policy was ac- 
cepted and sustained by the country. The conser- 
vative elements everywhere rallied to his support, 
and by his ability and eloquence it seemed as if he 
had prevailed and brought the people over to his 
opinions. It was a wonderful tribute to his power 
and influence, but the triumph was hollow and 
short-lived. He had attempted to compass an im- 
possibility. Nothing could kill the principles of hu- 
man liberty, not even a speech by Daniel Webster, 
backed by all his intellect and knowledge, his elo- 
quence and his renown. The anti-slavery move- 
ment was checked for the time, and pro-slavery 
democracy, the only other positive political force, 
reigned supreme. But amid the falling ruins of 
the Whig party, and the evanescent success of the 
Native Americans, the party of human rights re« 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 325 



vived ; and when it rose again, taught by the 
trials and misfortunes of 1850, it rose with a 
strength which Mr. Webster had never dreamed of, 
and, in 1856, polled nearly a million and a half 
of votes for Fremont. The rise and final triumph 
of the Republican party was the condemnation 
of the 7th of March speech and of the policy 
which put the government of the country in the 
hands of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. 
When the war came, inspiration was not found in 
the 7th of March speech. In that dark hour, men 
remembered the Daniel Webster who replied to 
Hayne, and turned away from the man who had 
sought for peace by advocating the great compro- 
mise of Henry Clay. 

The disapprobation and disappointment which 
were manifested in the North after the 7th of 
March speech could not be overlooked. Men 
thought and said that Mr. Webster had spoken in 
behalf of the South and of slavery. Whatever his 
intentions may have been, this was what the speech 
seemed to mean and this was its effect, and the 
North saw it more and more clearly as time went 
on. Mr. Webster never indulged in personal at- 
tacks, but at the same time he was too haughty a 
man ever to engage in an exchange of compliments 
in debate. He never was in the habit of saying 
pleasant things to his opponents in the Senate 
merely as a matter of agreeable courtesy. In this 
direction, as in its opposite, he usually maintained 



S2Q 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



a cold silence. But on the 7th of March he elab- 
orately complimented Calhoun, and went out of 
his way to flatter Virginia and Mr. Mason person- 
ally. This struck close observers with surprise, 
but it was the real purpose of the speech which 
went home to the people of the North. He had 
advocated measures which with slight exceptions 
were altogether what the South wanted, and the 
South so understood it. On the 30th of March 
Mr. Morehead wrote to Mr. Crittenden that Mr. 
Webster's appointment as Secretary of State 
would now be very acceptable to the South. No 
more bitter commentary could have been made. 
The people were blinded and dazzled at first, but 
they gradually awoke and perceived the error that 
had been committed. 

Mr. Webster, however, needed nothing from 
outside to inform him as to his conduct and its 
results. At the bottom of his heart and in the 
depths of his conscience he knew that he had made 
a dreadful mistake. He did not flinch. He went 
on in his new path without apparent faltering. 
His speech on the compromise measures went far- 
ther than that of the 7th of March. But if we 
study his speeches and letters between 1850 and 
the day of his death, we can detect changes in 
them which show plainly enough that the writer 
was not at ease, that he was not master of that 
real conscience of which he boasted. 

His friends, after the first shock of surprise, ral 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. S27 



lied to his support, and he spoke frequently at 
union meetings, and undertook, by making im- 
mense efforts, to convince the country that the 
compromise measures were right and necessary, 
and that the doctrines of the 7th of March speech 
ought to be sustained. In pursuance of this ob- 
ject, during the winter of 1850 and the summer 
of the following year, he wrote several public let- 
ters on the compromise measures, and he ad- 
dressed great meetings on various occasions, in 
New England, New York, and as far south as Vir- 
ginia. We are at once struck by- a marked change 
in the character and tone of these speeches, which 
produced a great effect in establishing the compro- 
mise policy. It had never been Mr. Webster's 
habifc to misrepresent or abuse his opponents. 
Now he confounded the extreme separatism of the 
abolitionists and the constitutional opposition of 
the Free-Soil party, and involved all opponents 
of slavery in a common condemnation. It was 
wilful misrepresentation to talk of the Free-Soil- 
ers as if they were identical with the abolitionists, 
and no one knew better than Mr. Webster the 
distinction between the two, one being ready to 
secede to get rid of slavery, the other offering only 
a constitutional resistance to its extension. His 
tone toward his opponents was correspondingly 
bitter. When he first arrived in Boston, after his 
speech, and spoke to the great crowd in front of 
the Revere House, he said, "I shall support no 



328 



DAXIEL WEBSTER. 



agitations having their foundations in unreal, 
ghostly abstractions.*' Slavery had now become 
" an unreal, ghostly abstraction/' although it must 
still have appeared to the negroes something very 
like a hard fact. There were men in that crowd, 
too, who had not forgotten the noble words with 
which Mr. Webster in 1837 had defended the 
character of the opponents of slavery, and the 
sound of this new gospel from his lips fell 
strangely on their ears. So he goes on from one 
union meeting to another, and in speech after 
speech there is the same bitter tone which had 
been so foreign to him in all his previous utter- 
ances. The supporters of the anti-slavery move- 
ment he denounces as insane. He reiterates his 
opposition to slave extension, and in the same 
breath argues that the Union must be preserved 
by giving way to the South. The feeling is upon 
him that the old parties are breaking down under 
the pressure of this " ghostly abstraction," this agi- 
tation which he tries to prove to the young men 
of the country and to his fellow-citizens every- 
where is %i whollv factitious." The Fugitive Slave 
Law is not in the form which he wants, but still he 
defends it and supports it. The first fruits of his 
policy of peace are seen in riots in Boston, and he 
personally advises with a Boston lawyer who has 
undertaken the cases against the fugitive slaves. 
It was undoubtedly his duty, as Mr. Curtis says, to 
enforce and support the law as the President's ad' 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 329 

viser, but his personal attention and interest were 
not required in slave cases, nor would they have 
been given a year before. The Wilmot Proviso, 
that doctrine which he claimed as his own in 
1847, when it was a sentiment on which Whigs 
could not differ, he now calls " a mere abstrac- 
tion." He struggles to put slavery aside for the 
tariff, but it will not down at his bidding, and he 
himself cannot leave it alone. Finally he con- 
cludes this compromise campaign with a great 
speech on laying the foundation of the capitol ex- 
tension, and makes a pathetic appeal to the South 
to maintain the Union. They are not pleasant 
to read, these speeches in the Senate and before 
the people in behalf of the compromise policy. 
They are harsh and bitter ; they do not ring true. 
Daniel Webster knew when he was delivering 
them that that was not the way to save the Union, 
or that, at all events, it was not the right way 
for him to do it. 

The same peculiarity can be discerned in his 
letters. The fun and humor which had hitherto 
run through his correspondence seems now to fade 
away as if blighted. On September 10, 1850, 
he writes to Mr. Harvey that since March 7 
there has not been an hour in which he has not 
felt a " crushing sense of anxiety and responsibil- 
ity." He couples this with the declaration that 
his own part is acted and he is satisfied ; but if 
his anxiety was solely of a public nature, why 



330 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



did it date from March 7, when, prior to that 
time, there was much greater cause for alarm than 
afterwards. In everything he said or wrote he 
continually recurs to the slavery question and al- 
ways in a defensive tone, usually with a sneer or 
a fling at the abolitionists and anti-slavery party. 
The spirit of unrest had seized him. He was dis- 
turbed and ill at ease. He never admitted it, 
even to himself, but his mind was not at peace, 
and he could not conceal the fact. Posterity can 
see the evidences of it plainly enough, and a man 
of his intellect and fame knew that with posterity 
the final reckoning must be made. No man can 
say that Mr. Webster anticipated the unfavorable 
judgment which his countrymen have passed upon 
his conduct, but that in his heart he feared such 
a judgment cannot be doubted. 

It is impossible to determine with perfect accu- 
racy any man's motives in what he says or does. 
They are so complex, they are so often undefined, 
even in the mind of the man himself, that no one 
can pretend to make an absolutely correct analy- 
sis. There have been many theories as to the 
motives which led Mr. Webster to make the 7th 
of March speech. In the heat of contemporary 
strife his enemies set it down as a mere bid to se- 
cure Southern support for the presidency, but this 
is a harsh and narrow view. The longing for the 
presidency weakened Mr. Webster as a public man 
from the time when it first took possession of him 



THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 



331 



after the reply to Hayne. It undoubtedly had a 
weakening effect upon him in the winter of 1850, 
and had some influence upon the speech of the 7th 
of March. But it is unjust to say that it did more. 
It certainly was far removed from being a control- 
ling motive. His friends, on the other hand, de- * 
clare that he was governed solely by the highest 
and most disinterested patriotism, by the truest 
wisdom. This explanation, like that of his foes, 
fails by going too far and being too simple. His 
motives were mixedo His chief desire was to pre- 
serve and maintain the Union. He wished to stand 
forth as the great saviour and pacificator. On - 
the one side was the South, compact, aggressive, 
bound together by slavery, the greatest political 
force in the country. On the other was a weak 
Free-Soil party, and a widely diffused and earnest 
moral sentiment without organization or tangible 
political power. Mr. Webster concluded that the 
way to save the Union and the Constitution, and 
to achieve the success which he desired, was to go 
with the heaviest battalions. He therefore es- 
poused the Southern side, for the compromise was 
in the Southern interest, and smote the anti-slav- 
ery movement with all his strength. He reasoned 
correctly that peace could come only by adminis- 
tering a severe check to one of the two contending 
parties. He erred in attempting to arrest the one 
which all modern history showed was irresistible. 
It is no doubt true, as appears by his cabinet opin 



332 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



ion recently printed, that he stood ready to meet 
the first overt act on the part of the South with 
force. Mr. Webster would not have hesitated to 
have struck hard at any body of men or any State 
which ventured to assail the Union. But he also 
believed that the true way to prevent any overt 
act on the part of the South was by concession, 
and that was precisely the object which the South- 
ern leaders sought to obtain. We may grant all 
the patriotism and all the sincere devotion to the 
cause of the Constitution which is claimed for him, 
but nothing can acquit Mr. Webster of error in the 
methods which he chose to adopt for the mainte- 
nance of peace and the preservation of the Union. 
If the 7th of March speech was right, then all 
that had gone before was false and wrong. In 
that speech he broke from his past, from his own 
principles and from the principles of New Eng- 
land, and closed his splendid public career with a 
terrible mistake. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE LAST YEARS. 

The story of the remainder of Mr. Webster's 
public life, outside of and apart from the slavery 
question, can be quickly told. General Taylor 
died suddenly on July 9, 1850, and this event led 
to an immediate and complete reorganization of 
the cabinet. Mr. Fillmore at once offered the 
post of Secretary of State to Mr. Webster, who 
accepted it, resigned his seat in the Senate, and, 
on July 23, assumed his new position. No great 
negotiation like that with Lord Ashburton marked 
this second term of office in the Department of 
State, but there were a number of important and 
some very complicated affairs, which Mr. Web- 
ster managed with the wisdom, tact, and dignity 
which made him so admirably fit for this high po- 
sition. 

The best-known incident of this period was 
that which gave rise to the famous "Hiilsemann 
letter.' 5 President Taylor had sent an agent to 
Hungary to report upon the condition of the revo- 
lutionary government, with the intention of recog- 
nizing it if there were sufficient grounds for doing 
so. When the agent arrived, the revolution was 



V 



334 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

crushed, and he reported to the President against 
recognition. These papers were transmitted to the 
Senate in March, 1850. Mr. Hiilsemann, the Aus- 
trian charge, thereupon complained of the action 
of our administration, and Mr. Clayton, then Sec- 
retary of State, replied that the mission of the 
agent had been simply to gather information. On 
receiving further instructions from his government., 
Mr. Hiilsemann rejoined to Mr. Clayton, and it 
fell to Mr. Webster to reply, which he did on De- 
cember 21, 1850. The note of the Austrian chargS 
was in a hectoring and highly offensive tone, and 
Mr. Webster felt the necessity of administering a 
sharp rebuke. " The Hiilsemann letter," as it 
was called, was accordingly dispatched. It set 
forth strongly the right of the United States and 
their intention to recognize any de facto revolu- 
tionan r government, and to seek information in all 
proper ways in order to guide their action. The 
argument on this point was admirably and forcibly 
stated, and it was accompanied by a bold vindica- 
tion of the American policy, and by some severe 
and wholesome reproof. Mr. Webster had two 
objects. One was to awaken the people of Europe 
to a sense of the greatness of this country, the 
other to touch the national pride at home. He 
did both. The foreign representatives learned a 
lesson which they never forgot, and which opened 
their eyes to the fact that we were no longer col- 
onies, and the national pride was also aroused 



THE LAST YEARS. 



335 



Mr. Webster admitted that the letter was, in some 
respects, boastful and rough. This was a fair crit- 
icism, and it may be justly said that such a tone 
was hardly worthy of the author. But, on the 
other hand, Hiilsemann's impertinence fully justi- 
fied such a reply, and a little rough domineering 
was, perhaps, the very thing needed. It is certain 
that the letter fully answered Mr. Webster's pur- 
pose, and excited a great deal of popular enthusi- 
asm. The affair did not, however, end here. Mr. 
Hiilsemann became very mild, but he soon lost his 
temper again. Kossuth and the refugees in Tur- 
key were brought to this country in a United 
States frigate. The Hungarian hero was received 
with a burst of enthusiasm that induced him to 
hope for substantial aid, which was, of course, 
wholly visionary. The popular excitement made 
it difficult for Mr. Webster to steer a proper 
course, but he succeeded, by great tact, in showing 
his own sympathy, and, so far as possible, that of 
the government, for the cause of Hungarian inde- 
pendence and for its leader, without going too far 
or committing any indiscretion which could justify 
a breach of international relations with Austria. 
Mr. Webster's course, including a speech at a 
dinner in Boston, in which he made an eloquent 
allusion to Hungary and Kossuth, although care- 
fully guarded, aroused the ire of Mr. Hiilsemann. 
who left the country, after writing a letter of in- 
dignant farewell to the Secretary of State. Mr. 



336 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Webster replied, through Mr. Hunter, with ex- 
treme coolness, confining himself to an approval 
of the gentleman selected by Mr. Hiilsemann to 
represent Austria after the latter's departure. 

The other affairs which occupied Mr. Webster's 
official attention at this time made less noise than 
that with Austria, but they were more compli- 
cated and some of them far more perilous to the 
peace of the country. The most important was 
that growing out of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty in 
regard to the neutrality of the contemplated canal 
in Nicaragua. This led to a prolonged correspond- 
ence about the protectorate of Great Britain in 
Nicaragua, and to a withdrawal of her claim to 
exact port-charges. It is interesting to observe 
the influence which Mr. Webster at once obtained 
with Sir Henry Bulwer and the respect in which 
he was held by that experienced diplomatist. Be- 
sides this discussion with England, there was a 
sharp dispute with Mexico about the right of way 
over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the troubles 
on the Texan boundary before Congress had acted 
upon the subject. Then came the Lopez invasion 
of Cuba, supported by bodies of volunteers en- 
listed in the United States, which, by its failure 
and its results, involved our government in a num- 
ber of difficult questions. The most serious was 
the riot at New Orleans, where the Spanish consul- 
ate was sacked by a mob. To render due reparation 
for this outrage without wounding the national 



THE LAST YEARS. 



337 



pride by apparent humiliation was no easy task. 
Mr. Webster settled everything, however, with a 
judgment, tact, and dignity which prevented war 
with Spain and yet excited no resentment at home. 
At a later period, when the Kossuth affair was 
drawing to an end, the perennial difficulty about 
the fisheries revived and was added to our Central 
American troubles with Great Britain, and this, 
together with the affair of the Lobos Islands, oc- 
cupied Mr. Webster's attention, and drew forth 
some able and important dispatches during the 
summer of 1852, in the last months of his life. 

While the struggle was in progress to convince 
the country of the value and justice of the com- 
promise measures and to compel their acceptance, 
another presidential election drew on. It was the 
signal for the last desperate attempt to obtain the 
Whig nomination for Mr. Webster, and it seemed 
at first sight as if the party must finally take up the 
New England leader. Mr. Clay was wholly out 
of the race, and his last hour was near. There 
was absolutely no one who, in fame, ability, pub- 
lic services, and experience could be compared for 
one moment with Mr. Webster. The opportunity 
was obvious enough ; it awakened all Mr. Web- 
ster's hopes, and excited the ardor of his friends. 
A formal and organized movement, such as had 
never before been made, was set on foot to pro- 
mote his candidacy, and a vigorous and earnest 
address to the people was issued by his friends in 



338 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Massachusetts. The result demonstrated, if dem- 
onstration were needed, that Mr. Webster had 
not, even under the most favorable circumstances, 
the remotest chance for the presidency. His 
friends saw this plainly enough before the con- 
vention met, but he himself regarded the great 
prize as at last surely within his grasp. Mr. 
Choate, who was to lead the Webster delegates, 
went to Washington the day before the convention 
assembled. He called on Mr. Webster and found 
him so filled with the belief that he should be 
nominated that it seemed cruel to undeceive him. 
Mr. Choate, at all events^ had not the heart for the 
task, and went back to Baltimore to lead the forlorn 
hope with gallant fidelity and with an eloquence 
as brilliant if not so grand as that of Mr. Web- 
ster himself. A majority 1 of the convention di- 
vided their votes very unequally between Mr. 
Fillmore and Mr. Webster, the former receiving 
133, the latter 29, on the first ballot, while Gen- 
eral Scott had 131. Forty-five ballots were taken, 
without any substantial change, and then General 
Scott began to increase his strength, and was nomi- 
nated on the fifty-third ballot, receiving 159 votes. 
Most of General Scott's supporters were opposed 

1 Mr. Curtis says a " great majority continued to divide their 
votes between Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Webster." The highest 
number reached by the combined Webster and Fillmore votes, on 
anyone ballot, was 162, three more than was received on the 
last ballot by General Scott, who, Mr. Curtis correctly says, ob- 
tained only a " few votes more than the necessary majority ." 



THE LAST YEARS. 



339 



to resolutions sustaining the compromise meas- 
ures, while those who voted for Mr. Fillmore and 
Mr. Webster favored that policy. General Scott 
owed his nomination to a compromise, which con- 
sisted in inserting in the platform a clause 
strongly approving Mr. Clay's measures. Mr. 
Webster expected the Fillmore delegates to come 
to him, an unlikely event when they were so 
much more numerous than his friends, and, more- 
over, they never showed the slightest inclination 
to do so. They were chiefly from the South, and 
as they chose to consider Mr. Fillmore and not 
his secretary the representative of compromise, 
they reasonably enough expected the latter to give 
way. The desperate stubbornness of Mr. Web- 
ster's adherents resulted in the nomination of 
Scott. It seemed hard that the Southern Whigs 
should have done so little for Mr. Webster after 
he had done and sacrificed so much to advance 
and defend their interests. But the South was 
practical. In the 7th of March speech they had 
got from Mr. Webster all they could expect or 
desire. It was quite possible, in fact it was highly 
probable, that, once in the presidency, he could 
not be controlled or guided by the slave-power or 
by any other sectional influence. Mr. Fillmore, 
inferior in every way to Mr. Webster in intellect, 
in force, in reputation, would give them a mild, 
safe administration and be easily influenced by 
the South. Mr. Webster had served his turn, and 



340 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



the men whose cause he had advocated and whose 
interests he had protected cast him aside. 

The loss of the nomination was a bitter disap- 
pointment to Mr. Webster. It was the fashion in 
certain quarters to declare that it killed him, but 
this was manifestly absurd. The most that can be 
said in this respect was, that the excitement and 
depression caused by his defeat preyed upon his 
mind and thereby facilitated the inroads of disease, 
while it added to the clouds which darkened round 
him in those last days. But his course of action 
after the convention cannot be passed over with- 
out comment. He refused to give his adhesion to 
General Scott's nomination, and he advised his 
friends to vote for Mr. Pierce, because the Whigs 
were divided, while the Democrats were unani- 
mously determined to resist all attempts to renew 
the slavery agitation. This course was absolutely 
indefensible. If the Whig party was so divided 
on the slavery question that Mr. Webster could 
not support their nominee, then he had no busi- 
ness to seek a nomination at their hands, for they 
were as much divided before the convention as 
afterwards. He chose to come before that conven- 
tion, knowing perfectly well the divisions of the 
party, and that the nomination might fall to Gen- 
eral Scott. He saw fit to play the game, and 
was in honor bound to abide by the rules. He 
had no right to say " it is heads I win, and tails 
you lose." If he had been nominated he would 



THE LAST YEARS. 



341 



have Indignantly and justly denounced a refusal 
on the part of General Scott and his friends to 
support him. It is the merest sophistry to say 
that Mr. Webster was too great a man to be 
bound by party usages, and that he owed it to 
himself to rise above them, and refuse his support 
to a poor nomination and to a wrangling party. 
If Mr. Webster could no longer act with the 
Whigs, then his name had no business in that 
convention at Baltimore, for the conditions were 
the same before its meeting as afterward. Great 
man as he was, he was not too great to behave 
honorably ; and his refusal to support Scott, after 
having been his rival for a nomination at the 
hands of their common party, was neither honor- 
able nor just. If Mr. Webster had decided to 
leave the Whigs and act independently, he was in 
honor bound to do so before the Baltimore conven- 
tion assembled, or to have warned the delegates 
that such was his intention in the event of Gen- 
eral Scott's nomination. He had no right to stand 
the hazard of the die, and then refuse to abide by 
the result. The Whig party, in its best estate, 
was not calculated to excite a very warm enthusi- 
asm in the breast of a dispassionate posterity, and 
it is perfectly true that it was on the eve of ruin 
in 1852. But it appeared better then, in the 
point of self-respect, than four years before. In 
1848 the Whigs nominated a successful soldier 
conspicuous only for his availability and without 



342 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



knowing to what party he belonged. They main- 
tained absolute silence on the great question of 
the extension of slavery, and carried on their 
campaign on the personal popularity of their can- 
didate. Mr. Webster was righteously disgusted 
at their candidate and their negative attitude. 
He could justly and properly have left them on 
a question of principle ; but he swallowed the 
nomination, " not fit to be made," and gave to 
his party a decided and public support. In 1852 
the Whigs nominated another successful soldier, 
who was known to be a Whig, and who had been 
a candidate for their nomination before. In their 
platform they formally adopted the essential prin- 
ciple demanded by Mr. Webster, and declared their 
adhesion to the compromise measures. If there 
was disaffection in regard to this declaration of 
1852, there was disaffection also about the silence 
of 1848. In the former case, Mr. Webster ad- 
hered to the nomination ; in the latter, he rejected 
it. In 1848 he might still hope to be President 
through a Whig nomination. In 1852 he knew 
that, even if he lived, there would never be another 
chance. He gave vent to his disappointment, put 
no constraint upon himself, prophesied the down- 
fall of his party, and advised his friends to vote 
for Franklin Pierce. It was perfectly logical, after 
advocating the compromise measures, to advise 
giving the government into the hands of a party 
controlled by the South. Mr. Webster would have 



THE LAST YEARS. 



343 



been entirely reasonable in taking such a course 
before the Baltimore convention. He had no right 
to do so after he had sought a nomination from the 
Whigs, and it was a breach of faith to act as he 
did, to advise his friends to desert a falling party 
and vote for the Democratic candidate. 

After the acceptance of the Department of 
State, Mr. Webster's health became seriously im- 
paired. His exertions in advocating the compro- 
mise measures, his official labors, and the in- 
creased severity of his annual hay-fever, — all 
contributed to debilitate him. His iron consti- 
tution weakened in various ways, and especially 
by frequent periods of intense mental exertion, to 
which were superadded the excitement and ner- 
vous strain inseparable from his career, was be- 
ginning to give way. Slowly but surely he lost 
ground. His spirits began to lose their elasticity, 
and he rarely spoke without a tinge of deep sad- 
ness being apparent in all he said. In May, 1852, 
while driving near Marshfield, he was thrown 
from his carriage with much violence, injuring 
his wrists, and receiving other severe contusions. 
The shock was very great, and undoubtedly accel- 
erated the progress of the fatal organic disease 
which was sapping his life. This physical injury 
was followed by the keen disappointment of his 
defeat at Baltimore, which preyed upon his heart 
and mind. During the summer of 1852 his health 
gave way more rapidly. He longed to resign, but 



844 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Mr. Fillmore insisted on his retaining his office. 
In July he came to Boston, where he was wel- 
comed by a great public meeting, and hailed with 
enthusiastic acclamations, which did much to 
soothe his wounded feelings. He still continued 
to transact the business of his department, and in 
August went to Washington, where he remained 
until the 8th of September, when he returned to 
Marshfield. On the 20th he went to Boston, for 
the last time, to consult his physician. He ap- 
peared at a friend's house, one evening, for a few 
moments, and all who then saw him were shocked 
at the look of illness and suffering in his face. It 
was his last visit. He went back to Marshfield the 
next day, never to return. He now failed rapidly. 
His nights were sleepless, and there were scarcely 
any intervals of ease or improvement. The decline 
was steady and sure, and as October wore away 
the end drew near. Mr. Webster faced it with 
courage, cheerfulness, and dignity, in a religious 
and trusting spirit, with a touch of the personal 
pride which was part of his nature. He remained 
perfectly conscious and clear in his mind almost 
to the very last moment, bearing his sufferings 
with perfect fortitude, and exhibiting the tender- 
est affection toward the wife and son and friends 
who watched over him. On the evening of Octo- 
ber 23 it became apparent that he was sinking, 
but his one wish seemed to be that he might be 
conscious when he was actually dying. After 



THE LAST YEARS. 



345 



midnight he roused from an uneasy sleep, strug- 
gled for consciousness, and ejaculated, " I still 
live." These were his last words. Shortly after 
three o'clock the labored breathing ceased, and all 
was over. 

A hush fell upon the country as the news of his 
death sped over the land. A great gap seemed to 
have been made in the existence of every one. 
Men remembered the grandeur of his form and 
the splendor of his intellect, and felt as if one of 
the pillars of the state had fallen. The profound 
grief and deep sense of loss produced by his death 
were the highest tributes and the most convinc- 
ing proofs of his greatness. 

In accordance with his wishes, all public forms 
and ceremonies were dispensed with. The fu- 
neral took place at his home on Friday, Octo- 
ber 29. Thousands flocked to Marshfield to do 
honor to his memory, and to look for the last 
time at that noble form. It was one of those beau- 
tiful days of the New England autumn, when the 
sun is slightly veiled, and a delicate haze hangs 
over the sea, shining with a tender silvery light. 
There is a sense of infinite rest and peace on such 
a day which seems to shut out the noise of the 
busy world and breathe the spirit of unbroken 
calm. As the crowds poured in through the gates 
of the farm, they saw before them on the lawn, 
resting upon a low mound of flowers, the majestic 
form, as impressive in the repose of death as it 



\ 



346 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



had been in the fullness of life and strength. 
There was a wonderful fitness in it all. The 
vault of heaven and the spacious earth seemed in 
their large simplicity the true place for such a man 
to lie in state. There was a brief and simple ser- 
vice at the house, and then the body was borne on 
the shoulders of Marshfield farmers, and laid in 
the little graveyard which already held the wife 
and children who had gone before, and where 
could be heard the eternal murmur of the sea. 

In May, 1852, Mr. Webster said to Professor Sil- 
liman : " I have given my life to law and politics. 
Law is uncertain and politics are utterly vain." 
It is a sad commentary for such a man to have 
made on such a career, but it fitly represents Mr. 
Webster's feelings as the end of life approached. 
His last years were not his most fortunate, and still 
less his best years. Domestic sorrows had been 
the prelude to a change of policy, which had 
aroused a bitter opposition, and to the pangs of 
disappointed ambition. A sense of mistake and 
failure hung heavily upon his spirits, and the cry 
of " vanity, vanity, all is vanity," came readily to 
his lips. There is an infinite pathos in those 
melancholy words which have j ust been quoted. 
The sun of life, which had shone so splendidly at 
its meridian, was setting amid clouds. The dark- 
ness which overspread him came from the action 
of the 7th of March, and the conflict which it had 



THE LAST YEARS, 



347 



caused. If there were failure and mistake they 
were there. The presidency could add nothing, its 
loss could take away nothing from the fame of 
Daniel Webster. He longed for it eagerly; he 
had sacrificed much to his desire for it ; his disap- 
pointment was keen and bitter at not receiving 
what seemed to him the fit crown of his great 
public career. But this grief was purely personal, 
and will not be shared by posterity, who feel only 
the errors of those last years coming after so much 
glory, and who care very little for the defeat of 
the ambition which went with them. 

Those last two years awakened such fierce dis- 
putes, and had such an absorbing interest, that 
they have tended to overshadow the half century 
of distinction and achievement which preceded 
them. Failure and disappointment on the part 
of such a man as Webster seem so great, that 
they too easily dwarf everything else, and hide 
from us a just and well proportioned view of the 
whole career. Mr. Webster's success had, in 
truth, been brilliant, hardly equalled in measure 
or duration by that of any other eminent man in 
our history. For thirty years he had stood at the 
head of the bar and of the Senate, the first lawyer 
and the first statesman of the United States. 
This is a long tenure of power for one man in two 
distinct departments. It would be remarkable 
anywhere. It is especially so in a democracy. 
This great success Mr. Webster owed solely to his 



348 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



intellectual power supplemented by great physical 
gifts. No man ever was born into the world bet- 
ter formed by nature for the career of an orator 
and statesman. He had everything to compel the 
admiration and submission of his fellow-men : — 

" The front of Jove himself ; 
An eye like Mars to threaten and command ; 
A station like the herald Mercury 
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill ; 
A combination and a form indeed, 
Where everv god did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man." 

Hamlet's words are a perfect picture of Mr. Web- 
ster's outer man, and we have but to add to the 
description a voice of singular beauty and power 
with the tone and compass of an organ. The look 
of his face and the sound of his voice were in 
themselves as eloquent as anything Mr. Webster 
ever uttered. 

But the imposing presence was only the out- 
ward sign of the man. Within was a massive and 
powerful intellect, not creative or ingenious, but 
w T ith a wonderful vigor of grasp, capacious, pene- 
trating, far-reaching. Mr. Webster's strongest 
and most characteristic mental qualities were 
weight and force. He was peculiarly fitted to 
deal with large subjects in a large way. He was 
by temperament extremely conservative. There 
was nothing of the reformer or the zealot about 
him. He could maintain or construct where other 
men had built ; he could not lay new foundations 



TEE LAST YEARS. 



349 



or invent. We see this curiously exemplified in 
his feeling toward Hamilton and Madison. He 
admired them both, and to the former he paid a 
compliment which has become a familiar quota- 
tion. But Hamilton's bold, aggressive genius, his 
audacity, fertility, and resource, did not appeal to 
Mr. Webster as did the prudence, the constructive 
wisdom, and the safe conservatism of the gentle 
Madison, whom he never wearied of praising. 
The same description may be given of his imagi- 
nation, which was warm, vigorous, and keen, but 
not poetic. He used it well, it never led him 
astray, and was the secret of his most conspicuous 
oratorical triumphs. 

He had great natural pride and a strong sense 
of personal dignity, which made him always im- 
pressive, but apparently cold, and sometimes sol- 
emn in public. In his later years this solemnity 
degenerated occasionally into pomposity, to which 
it is always perilously near. At no time in his 
life was he quick or excitable. He was indolent 
and dreamy, working always under pressure, and 
then at a high rate of speed. This indolence in- 
creased as he grew older ; he would then postpone 
longer and labor more intensely to make up the 
lost time than in his earlier days. When he was 
quiescent, he seemed stern, cold, and latterly 
rather heavy, and some outer incentive was needed 
to rouse his intellect or touch his heart. Once 
stirred, he blazed forth, and, when fairly engaged, 



350 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



with his intellect in full play, he was as grand and 
effective in his eloquence as it is given to human 
nature to be. In the less exciting occupations of 
public life, as, for instance, in foreign negotiations, 
he showed the same grip upon his subject, the 
same capacity and judgment as in his speeches, 
and a mingling of tact and dignity which proved 
the greatest fitness for the conduct of the gravest 
public affairs. As a statesman Mr. Webster was 
not an " opportunist," as it is the fashion to call 
those who live politically from day to day, deal- 
ing with each question as it arises, and exhibiting 
often the greatest skill and talent. Still less was 
he a statesman of the type of Charles Fox, who 
preached to the deaf ears of one generation great 
principles which became accepted truisms in the 
next. Mr. Webster stands between the two 
classes. He viewed the present with a strong per- 
ception of the future, and shaped his policy not 
merely for the daily exigency, but with a keen eye 
to subsequent effects. At the same time he never 
put forward and defended single-handed a great 
principle or idea which, neglected then, was grad- 
ually to win its way and reign supreme among a 
succeeding generation. 

His speeches have a heat and glow which we 
can still feel, and a depth and reality of thought 
which have secured them a place in literature. 
He had not a fiery nature, although there is often, 
so much warmth in what he said. He was neither 



TEE LAST YEARS. 



351 



high tempered nor quick to anger, but he could be 
fierce, and, when adulation had warped him in 
those later years, he was capable of striking ugly 
blows which sometimes wounded friends as well 
as enemies. 

There remains one marked quality to be noticed 
in Mr. Webster, which was of immense negative 
service to him. This was his sense of humor, 
Mr. Nichol, in his recent history of American lit- 
erature, speaks of Mr. Webster as deficient in this 
respect. Either the critic himself is deficient in 
humor or he has studied only Webster's collected 
works, which give no indication of the real humor 
in the man. That Mr. Webster was not a humor- 
ist is unquestionably true, and although he used 
a sarcasm which made his opponents seem absurd 
and even ridiculous at times, and in his more un- 
studied efforts would provoke mirth by some 
happy and playful allusion, some felicitous quota' 
tion or ingenious antithesis, he was too stately in 
every essential respect ever to seek to make mere 
fun or to excite the laughter of his hearers by de- 
liberate exertions and with malice aforethought. 
He had, nevertheless, a real and genuine sense of 
humor. We can see it in his letters, and it comes 
out in a thousand ways in the details and incidents 
of bis private life. When he had thrown aside the 
cares of professional or public business, he revelled 
in hearty, boisterous fun, and he had that sanest 
of qualities, an honest, boyish love of pure non* 



352 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



sense. He delighted in a good story and dearly 
loved a joke, although no jester himself. This 
sense of humor and appreciation of the ridiculous, 
although they give no color to his published 
works, where, indeed, they would have been out 
of place, improved his judgment, smoothed his 
path through the world, and saved him from those 
blunders in taste and those follies in action which 
are ever the pitfalls for men with the fervid, ora- 
torical temperament. 

This sense of humor gave, also, a great charm 
to his conversation and to all social intercourse 
with him. He was a good, but never, so far 
as can be judged from tradition, an overbearing 
talker. He never appears to have crushed opposi- 
tion in conversation, nor to have indulged in mon- 
ologue, which is so apt to be the foible of famous 
and successful men who have a solemn sense of 
their own dignity and importance. What Lord 
Melbourne said of the great Whig historian, " that 
he wished he was as sure of anything as Tom Ma- 
caulay was of everything," could not be applied 
to Mr. Webster. He owed his freedom from such 
a weakness partly, no doubt, to his natural indo- 
lence, but still more to the fact that he was not 
only no pedant, but not even a very learned man. 
He knew no Greek, but was familiar with Latin. 
His quotations and allusions were chiefly drawn 
from Shakespeare, Milton, Homer,* and the Bible, 
where he found what most appealed to him — 



THE LAST YEARS. 



353 



simplicity and grandeur of thought and diction. 
At the same time, he was a great reader, and pos- 
sessed wide information on a vast variety of sub- 
jects, which a clear and retentive memory put 
always at his command. The result of all this 
was that he was a most charming and entertain- 
ing companion. 

These attractions were heightened by his large 
nature and strong animal spirits. He loved out- 
door life. He was a keen sportsman and skilfu] 
fisherman. In all these ways he was healthy and 
manly, without any tinge of the mere student 
or public official. He loved everything that was 
large. His soul expanded in the free air and 
beneath the blue sky. All natural scenery ap- 
pealed to him, — Niagara, the mountains, the roll- 
ing prairie, the great rivers, — but he found most 
contentment beside the limitless sea, amid brown 
marshes and sand-dunes, where the sense of infi- 
nite space is strongest. It was the same in regard 
to animals. He cared but little for horses or 
dogs, but he rejoiced in great herds of cattle, and 
especially in fine oxen, the embodiment of slow 
and massive strength. In England the things 
which chiefly appealed to him were the Tower 
of London, Westminster Abbey, Smithfield cattle 
market, and English agriculture. So it was al- 
ways and everywhere. He loved mountains and 
great trees, wide horizons, the ocean, the western 
plains, and the giant monuments of literature and 

23 



354 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



art. He rejoiced in his strength and the over- 
flowing animal vigor that was in him. He was so 
big and so strong, so large in every way, that 
people sank into repose in his presence, and felt 
rest and confidence in the mere fact of his exist- 
ence. He came to be regarded as an institution, 
and when he died men paused with a sense of 
helplessness, and wondered how the country would 
get on without him. To have filled so large a 
space in a country so vast, and in a great, hurry- 
ing, and pushing democracy, implies a personality 
of a most uncommon kind. 

He was, too, something more than a charming 
companion in private life. He was generous, lib- 
eral, hospitable, and deeply affectionate. He was 
adored in his home, and deeply loved his children, 
who were torn from him, one after another. His 
sorrow, like his joy, was intense and full of force. 
He had many devoted friends, and a still greater 
body of unhesitating followers. To the former 
he showed, through nearly all his life, the warm 
affection which was natural to him. It was not 
until adulation and flattery had deeply injured 
him, and the frustrated ambition for the presi- 
dency had poisoned both heart and mind, that he 
became dictatorial and overbearing. Not till then 
did he quarrel with those who had served and fol- 
lowed him, as when he slighted Mr. Lawrence for 
expressing independent opinions, and refused to 
do justice to the memory of Story because it 



THE LAST YEARS. 



355 



might impair his own glories. They do not pre* 
sent a pleasant picture, these quarrels with friends, 
but they were part of the deterioration of the last 
years, and they furnish in a certain way the key 
to his failure to attain the presidency. The coun- 
try was proud of Mr. Webster ; proud of his intel- 
lect, his eloquence, his fame. He was the idol of the 
capitalists, the merchants, the lawyers, the clergy, 
the educated men of all classes in the East. The 
politicians dreaded and feared him because he was 
so great, and so little in sympathy with them, but 
his real weakness was with the masses of the peo- 
ple. He was not popular in the true sense of the 
word. For years the Whig party and Henry 
Clay were almost • synonymous terms, but this 
could never be said of Mr. Webster. His follow- 
ing was strong in quality, but weak numerically. 
Clay touched the popular heart. Webster never 
did. The people were proud of him, wondered at 
him, were awed by him, but they did not love 
him, and that was the reason he was never Presi- 
dent, for he was too great to succeed to the high 
office, as many men have, by happy or unhappy 
accident. There was also another feeling which 
is suggested by the differences with some of his 
closest friends. There was a lurking distrust of 
Mr. Webster's sincerity. We can see it plainly in 
the correspondence of the Western Whigs, who 
were not, perhaps, wholly impartial. But it ex- 
isted, nevertheless. There was a vague, ill-defined 



356 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



feeling of doubt in the public mind ; a suspicion 
that the spirit of the advocate was the ruling spirit 
in -Mr. Webster, and that he did not believe with 
absolute and fervent faith in one side of any ques- 
tion. There was just enough correctness, just a 
sufficient grain of truth in this idea, when united 
with the coldness and dignity of his manner and 
with his greatness itself, to render impossible that 
popularity which, to be real and lasting in a de- 
mocrat, must come from the heart and not from 
the head of the people, which must be instinctive 
and emotional, and not the offspring of reason. 

There is no occasion to discuss, or hold up to 
reprobation, Mr. Webster's failings. He was a 
splendid animal as well as a great man, and he 
had strong passions and appetites, which he in- 
dulged at times to the detriment of his health and 
reputation. These errors may be mostly fitly con- 
signed to silence. But there was one failing which 
cannot be passed over in this way. This was in 
regard to money. His indifference to debt was 
perceptible in his youth, and for many years 
showed no sign of growth. But in his later years 
it increased with terrible rapidity. He earned 
twenty thousand a year when he first came to 
Boston, — a very great income for those days. 
His public career interfered, of course, with his 
law practice, but there never was a period when 
he could not, with reasonable economy, have laid 
up something at the end of every year, and grad 



THE LAST YEARS. 



357 



ually amassed a fortune. But he not only never 
saved, he lived habitually beyond his means. He 
did not become poor by his devotion to the public 
service, but by his own extravagance. He loved 
to spend money and to live well. He had a fine 
library and handsome plate; he bought fancy 
cattle ; he kept open house, and indulged in that 
most expensive of all luxuries, " gentleman-farm- 
ing." He never stinted himself in any way, and 
he gave away money with reckless generosity and 
heedless profusion, often not stopping to inquire 
who the recipient of his bounty might be. The 
result was debt ; then subscriptions among his 
friends to pay his debts ; then a fresh start and 
more debts, and more subscriptions and funds for 
his benefit, and gifts of money for his table, and 
checks or notes for several thousand dollars in 
token of admiration of the 7th of March speech. 1 

1 The story of the gift of ten thousand dollars in token of ad- 
miration of the 7th of March speech, referred to by Dr. Von 
Hoist (Const. Hist, of the United States) may be found in a vol- 
ume entitled, In Memoriam, B. Ogle Tayloe, p. 109, and is as fol- 
lows : " My opulent and munificent friend and neighbor Mr. Wil- 
liam W. Corcoran, " says Mr. Tayloe, " after the perusal of Web- 
ster's celebrated March speech in defence of the Constitution and 
of Southern rights, inclosed to Mrs. Webster her husband's note 
for ten thousand dollars given him for a loan to that amount. 
Mr. Webster met Mr. Corcoran the same evening, at the Presi- 
dent's, and thanked him for the * princely favor/ Next day he 
addressed to Mr. Corcoran a letter of thanks which I read at Mr. 
Corcoran 's request.' 5 This version is substantially correct. The 
morning of March 8 Mr. Corcoran inclosed with a letter of con- 
gratulation some notes of Mr. Webster's amounting to some six 



358 



D AN ILL WEBSTER. 



This was, of course, utterly wrong and demoral- 
izing, but Mr. Webster came, after a time, to look 
upon such transactions as natural and proper. In 
the Ingersoll debate, Mr. Yancey accused him of 
being in the pay of the New England manufacture 
ers. and his biographer has replied to the charge 
at length. That Mr. Webster was in the pay of 
the manufacturers in the sense that they hired 
him, and bade him do certain things, is absurd. 
That he was maintained and supported in a large 
degree by Xew England manufacturers and capi- 
talists cannot be questioned ; but his attitude to- 
ward them was not that of servant and dependent. 

thousand dollars. Reflecting that this was not a very solid trib- 
ute, he opened his letter and put in a cheek for a thousand dol- 
lars, and sent the notes and the check to Mr. Webster, who wrote 
him a letter expressing his gratitude, which Mr. Tayloe doubtless 
saw, and which is still in existence. I give the facts in this way 
because Mr. George T. Curtis, in a newspaper interview, referring 
to an article of mine in the Atlantic Monthly, said, " With regard 
to the story of the ten thousand dollar check, which story Mr. 
Lodge gives us to understand he found in the pages of that very 
credulous writer Dr. Von Hoist, although I have not looked into 
his volumes to see whether he makes the charge, I have only to 
say that I never heard of such an occurrence before, and that it 
would require the oath of a very credible witness to the fact to 
make me believe it " I may add that I have taken the trouble 
not only to look into Dr. Yon Hoist's volumes but to examine the 
whole matter thoroughly. The proof is absolute and indeed it is 
not necessary to go beyond Mr. "Webster's own letter of acknowl- 
edgment in search of evidence, were there the slightest reason to 
doubt the substantial correctness of Mr. Tayloe's statement. The 
point is a small one, but a statement of fact, if questioned, ought 
always to be sustained or withdrawn. 



THE LAST YEARS. 



359 



He seems to have regarded the merchants and 
bankers of State Street very much as a feudal 
baron regarded his peasantry. It was their privi- 
lege and duty to support him, and he repaid them 
with an occasional magnificent compliment. The 
result was that he lived in debt and died insolvent, 
and this was not the position which such a man as 
Daniel Webster should have occupied. 

He showed the same indifference to the source 
of supplies of money in other ways. He took a 
fee from Wheelock, and then deserted him. He 
came down to Salem to prosecute a murderer, and 
the opposing counsel objected that he was brought 
there to hurry the jury beyond the law and the 
evidence, and it was even murmured audibly in 
the court-room that he had a fee from the rela- 
tives of the murdered man in his pocket. A fee 
of that sort he certainly received either then or 
afterwards. Every ugly public attack that was 
made upon him related to money, and it is pain- 
ful that the biographer of such a man as Webster 
should be compelled to give many pages to show 
that his hero was not in the pay of manufactur- 
ers, and did not receive a bribe in carrying out the 
provisions of the treaty of Guadaloupe-Hidalgo. 
The refutation may be perfectly successful, but 
there ought to have been no need of it. The rep- 
utation of a man like Mr. Webster in money mat- 
ters should have been so far above suspicion that 
no one would have dreamed of attacking it. Debts 



360 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



and subscriptions bred the idea that there might 
be worse behind, and although there is no reason 
to believe that such was the case, these things are 
of themselves deplorable enough. 

When Mr. Webster failed it was a moral fail- 
ure. His moral character was not equal to his 
intellectual force. All the errors he ever com- 
mitted, whether in public or in private life, in 
political action or in regard to money obligations, 
came from moral weakness. He was deficient in 
that intensity of conviction which carries men be- 
yond and above all triumphs of statesmanship, and 
makes them the embodiment of the great moral 
forces which move the world. If Mr. Webster's 
moral power had equalled his intellectual great- 
ness, he would have had no rival in our history. 
But this combination and balance are so rare that 
they are hardly to be found in perfection among 
the sons of men. The very fact of his greatness 
made his failings all the more dangerous and un- 
fortunate. To be blinded by the splendor of his 
fame and the lustre of his achievements and prate 
about the sin of belittling a great man is the falsest 
philosophy and the meanest cant. The only thing 
worth having, in history as in life, is truth ; and 
we do wrong to our past, to ourselves, and to our 
posterity if we do not strive to render simple 
justice always. We can forgive the errors and 
sorrow for the faults of our great ones gone ; we 
cannot afford to hide or forget their shortcomings. 



THE LAST YEARS. 



361 



But after all has been said, the question of most 
interest is, what Mr. Webster represented, what he 
effected, and what he means in our history. The 
answer is simple. He stands to-day as the pre- 
eminent champion and exponent of nationality. 
He said once, " there are no Alleghanies in my 
politics," and he spoke the exact truth. Mr. 
Webster was thoroughly national. There is no 
taint of sectionalism or narrow local prejudice 
about him. He towers up as an American, a 
citizen of the United States in the fullest sense 
of the word. He did not invent the Union, or dis- 
cover the doctrine of nationality. But he found 
the great fact and the great principle ready to his 
hand, and he lifted them up, and preached the 
gospel of nationality throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. In his fidelity to this cause 
he never wavered nor faltered. From the first 
burst of boyish oratory to the sleepless nights at 
Marshfield, when, waiting for death, he looked 
through the window at the light which showed 
him the national flag fluttering from its staff, his 
first thought was of a united country. To his 
large nature the Union appealed powerfully by the 
mere sense of magnitude which it conveyed. The 
vision of future empire, the dream of the destiny 
of an unbroken union touched and kindled his im- 
agination. He could hardly speak in public with- 
out an allusion to the grandeur of American na- 
tionality, and a fervent appeal to keep it sacred 



362 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



and intact. For fifty years, with reiteration ever 
more frequent, sometimes with rich elaboration, 
sometimes with brief and simple allusion, he 
poured this message into the ears of a listening 
people. His words passed into text-books, and be- 
came the first declamations of school-boys. They 
were in every one's mouth. They sank into the 
hearts of the people, and became unconsciously a 
part of their life and daily thoughts. When the 
hour came, it was love for the Union and the 
sentiment of nationality which nerved the arm of 
the North, and sustained her courage. That love 
had been fostered, and that sentiment had been 
strengthened and vivified by the life and words of 
Webster. No one had done so much, or had so 
large a share in this momentous task. Here lies 
the debt which the American people owe to Web- 
ster, and here is his meaning and importance in 
his own time and to us to-day. His career, his in- 
tellect, and his achievements are inseparably con- 
nected with the maintenance of a great empire, 
and the fortunes of a great people. So long as 
English oratory is read or studied, so long will his 
speeches stand high in literature. So long as the 
Union of these States endures, or holds a place in 
history, will the name of Daniel Webster be 
honored and remembered, and his stately elo- 
quence find an echo in the hearts of his country* 
men. 



INDEX. 



Aberdeen, Lord, succeeds Lord Pal- 
merston as Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs, 252 ; offers forty-ninth par- 
allel, in accordance with Mr. Web- 
ster's suggestion, 266. 

Adams, John, in Massachusetts Con- 
vention, 111 ; letter to Webster on 
Plymouth oration, 123 ; eulogy on, 
125 ; supposed speech of, 126. 

Adams, John Quincy, most conspicu- 
ous man in New England, 129 ; op- 
posed to Greek mission, 135 ; opin- 
ion of Webster's speech against tar- 
iff of 1824, 136 ; elected President, 
137, 149 ; anxious for success of 
Panama mission, 140 ; message on 
Georgia and Creek Indians, 142 ; 
Webster's opposition to, 145 ; bit- 
ter tone toward Webster in Ed- 
wards's affair, 147 ; interview with 
Webster, 148, 149 ; conciliates Web- 
ster, 149 ; real hostility to Web- 
ster, 150 ; defeated for presidency, 
151 ; comment on eulogy on 
Adams and Jefferson, 153 ; com- 
pared with Webster as an ora- 
tor, 201 ; opinion of reply to Hayne, 
206 ; opinion of Mr. Webster's 
attitude toward the South in 1838, 
285. 

Ames, Fisher, compared with Webster 
as an orator, 201. 

Appleton, Julia Webster, daughter of 
Mr. Webster, death of, 271. 

Ashburton, Lord, appointed special 
commissioner, 251 ; arrives in Wash- 
ington, 253 ; negotiation with Mr. 
Webster, 255 ff . ; attacked by Lord 
Palmerston, 259. 

Ashmun, George, defends Mr. Web- 
ster, 269. 

Atkinson, Edward, summary of Mr. 
Webster's tariff speech of 1824, 153- 
165. 

Bacourt, M. de, French Minister, de- 1 



scription of Harrison's reception of 
diplomatic corps, 245. 

Baltimore, Whig Convention at, 338. 

Bank of the L T nited States, debate on 
establishment, and defeat of, in 
1814-15, 62; established, 66; be- 
ginning of attack on, 208. 

Bartlett, Ichabod, counsel for State 
against College, 79 ; attack on Mr. 
Webster, 80. 

Bell, Samuel, remarks to Webster be- 
fore reply to Hayne, 178. 

Bellamy, Dr., early opponent of Elea- 
zer Wheelock, 75. 

Benton, Thomas H., account of Mr. 
Webster in 1833, 219, 220 ; error in 
view of Webster, 221 ; fails in first 
attempt to carry expunging resolu- 
tion, 232 ; carries second expunging 
resolution, 234 ; attacks Ashburton 
treaty, 257 ; supports Taylors policy 
in 1850, 312. 

Bocanegra, M. de, Webster's corre- 
spondence with, 260. 

" Boston Memorial," 275. 

Bosworth, Mr., junior counsel in 
Rhode Island case, 105. 

Brown, Rev. Francis, elected presi- 
dent of Dartmouth College, 78 ; re- 
fuses to obey new board of trustees, 
79 ; writes to Webster as to state of 
public opinion, 94. 

Buchanan, James, taunts Mi. Clay, 
251 ; attacks Ashburton treaty, 257. 

Bulwer, Sir Henry, respect for Mr. 
Webster, 336. 

Burke, Edmund, Webster compared 
with as an orator, 199, 202, 203. 

Calhoun, John C, speech in favor of 
repealing embargo, 53 ; sustains 
double duties, 55, 157 ; asks Web- 
ster's assistance to establish a bank, 
63 ; introduces bill to compel reve- 
nue to be collected in specie, 66; 
internal improvement bill of, 68 «* 



364 



INDEX. 



visit to Webster, who regards him as I 
his choice for President, 130-145 ; j 
misleads Webster as to Greek mis- ! 
sion, 135 ; author of exposition and j 
protest, 171 ; presides over debate 1 
on Foote's resolution, 172 ; com- 
pared with Webster as an orator, ! 
201 ; resigns vice-presidency and re- 
turns as Senator to support nullifi- 
cation, 212 ; alarmed at Jackson's j 
attitude and at Force Bill, 214 ; con- I 
suits Clay, 215 ; nullification speech 
on Force Bill, 215 ; merits of speech, : 
216 ; supports compromise, 219 ; al- j 
liance with Clay, 222 ; and Webster, 
226 ; attitude in regard to France, '; 
230 ; change on bank question, 236 ; 
accepts secretaryship of state to i 
bring about annexation of Texas, 263; 
moves that anti-slavery petitions be j 
not received, 1836, 281 ; bill to con- \ 
trol United States mails, 282 ; tries j 
to stifle petitions, 284 ; resolutions 
on Enterprise affair, 286 ; approves 
Webster's treatment of Creole case, 
287 ; pronounces anti-slavery peti- 
tion of Xew Mexico "insolent," 298 ; 
argument as to Constitution in ter- , 
ritories, 298 ; Webster's compli- 
ments to on 7th of March, 326. 

California, desires admission as a state, j 
299 ; slavery possible in, 319. 

Carlyle, Thomas, description of Web- 
ster, 194. 

Caroline, affair of steamboat, 247. 

Cass, Lewis, attack upon Ashburton ! 
treaty ; 259 ; Democratic candidate 
for presidency and defeated, 274. 

Chamberlain, Mellen, comparison of 
Webster with other orators, 203, | 
note. 

Chatham, Earl of, compared with 
Webster as an orator, 201. 

Choate, Rufus, compared with Web- 
ster as an orator, 202 ; resigns sena- 
torship, 262 ; leads Webster dele- 
gates at Baltimore, 338. 

Clay, Henry, makes Mr. Webster chair- 
man of Judiciary Committee, 131 ; 
active support of Greek resolutions, 
134 ; author of American system and 
tariff of 1824, 136, 163 ; desires Pan- 
ama mission, 140 ; Webster's op- 
position to, 145 ; candidate for 
presidency in 1832, 207 : bill for re- 
duction of tariff, 1831-32, 211 ; con- 
sults with Calhoun, 215 ; introduces 
Compromise bill, 215 ; carries Com- 
promise bill, 218, 219 ; alliance with 
Calhoun, 222 ; opinion of Webster's 
course in 1833, 222. 223 ; alliance 
with Webster, 226 ; introduces reso- 



lutions of censure on Jackson, 228 ; 
attitude in regard to France, 230; 
declines to enter Harrison's cabinet, 
240 ; attacks President Tyler, 250, 
251 ; movement in favor of, in Mas- 
sachusetts, 258 ; nominated for 
presidency and defeated, 262 ; move- 
ment to nominate in 1848, 273 ; reso- 
lutions as to slavery in tne District, 
2S4 ; plan for compromise in 1850, 
300 ; introduces Compromise bill in 
Senate, 301 ; policy of compromise, 
309, 310 ; consistent supporter of 
compromise policy, 315 ; not a can- 
didate for presidency in 1852, 337 ; 
popularity of, 355. 

Clingman, Thomas L. , advocates slav- 
ery in California, 320. 

Congregational Church, power and 
politics of, in Xew Hampshire, 76. 

Congress, leaders in thirteenth, 49; 
leaders in fourteenth, 64. 

Cooper, James Fenimore, Webster's 
speech at memorial meeting, 195. 

Corcoran, Wm. W., gift to Mr. Web- 
ster, 357, note. 

Crawford. William H., attack on by 
Xinian Edwards, 136, 146, 147 ; bids 
for support of Webster and Federal- 
ists, 146 ; defended by Webster, 147 ; 
fails to get support "of Federalists, 
148. 

Creole, case of the, 253, 255, 287. 
Crimes Act, 138. 

Crittenden, John J., Morehead's letter 
to, about 7th of March speech, 326. 

Cruising Convention, the, 255, 259. 

Cumberland Road, bill for, 137. 

Curtis, George T., biography of Web- 
ster, 1, note ; opinion of reply to Cal- 
houn, 216 ; of expunging resolution, 
234 ; describes Xew York movement 
for Taylor as a blunder, 273 ; says 
majority disapproved 7th of March 
speech, 303 ; considers Taylor's pol- 
icy in 1850 impracticable, 311 ; views 
as to danger of secession in 1850, 
314. 

Cushing, Caleb, Minister to China, 
260 ; course in 1838, 285. 

Dartmouth College case, account of, 

74-97. 
Davis, Daniel, 30. 

Denison, John Evelyn, friendship and 
correspondence with Mr. Webster, 
152. 

Dexter, Samuel, a leader at Boston 
bar, 30 ; practises in New Hamp- 
shire, 36. 

Dickinson, Daniel S., attack upon Mr 
Webster, 268. 



INDEX. 



365 



Disraeli, Benjamin, free trade a ques- 
tion of expediency, 169. 

Douglas, Stephen A., offers amend- 
ment to Oregon bill, 294. 

Dunham, Josiah, attacks Webster for 
deserting Wheelock, 77. 

Durfree, American citizen killed on 
Caroline, 247. 

Duvall, Judge, opposed to Dartmouth 
College, 87 ; writes dissenting opin- 
ion, 96. 

Edwards, Nlnian, charges against Mr. 
Crawford, 136, 146, 147; character 
of, 146, 147. 

Enterprise, case of the, 286. 

Erskine, Lord, compared with "Web- 
ster as an orator, 202. 

Everett, Edward, Webster desires ap- 
pointment of as Commissioner to 
Greece, 135 ; Minister to England, 
252 ; refuses Chinese mission, 260. 

Fake.au, Timothy, report of Dart- 
mouth College case, 81, 86. 

Federalists, ruling party in New 
Hampshire, 76 ; defeated on col- 
lege issue, 78 ; movement of to get 
decision for college, 92-94 ; posi- 
tion of in 1823, 130, 131 ; hostility 
to John Quincy Adams, 145, 146 ; 
attempted alliance with Crawford, 
146-148 ; to be recognized by Adams, 
149 ; free-traders in New England, 
155 ff. 

Fillmore, Millard, offers Mr. Webster 
secretaryship of state, 333 ; candi- 
date for Whig nomination, 338 ; 
urges Mr. Webster to stay in the 
cabinet, 344. 

Foote, Henry S., moves to refer ad- 
mission of California to a select 
committee, 301. 

Foote, Samuel A., resolution regard- 
ing public lands, 172. 

Force Bill, introduced, 214 ; debated, 
215, 216. 

Forsyth, John, attacks Mr. Adams's 
message on Creek Indians, 142 ; an- 
swered by Webster, 142, 143. 

Fox, Charles James, "no good speech 
reads well," 189; compared with 
Webster as an orator, 202 ; as a 
statesman, 350. 

Fox, Henry S., British minister at 
Harrison's reception of diplomatic 
corps, 245 ; demands release of 
McLeod, 248. 

Free-Soil party, nominations in 1848 
do not obtain Webster's support, 
274, 296; attitude in regard to 
slavery in 1850, 316 ; injured by 7th 



of March speech, 324; revival and 
victory, 325. 
Fryeburg, Maine, Webster's school at, 
26 ; oration before citizens of, 27. 

Gibbons vs. Ogden, case of, 99. 

Giddings, Joshua R., opinion of Mr. 
Webster's attitude toward the South 
in 1838, 286 ; says Mr. Webster in- 
serted passage about free negroes 
and Mr. Hoar after delivery of 7th 
of March speech, 303 ; interview 
with Mr. Webster, 322. 

Girard will case, 101, 261. 

Goodrich, Dr. Chauncey A., descrip- 
tion of close of Mr. Webster's ar- 
gument in Dartmouth case, 89, 90. 

Goodridge, Major, case of, 198. 

Gore, Christopher, admits Mr. Web- 
ster as a student in his office, 28 ; 
character of, 29 ; advises Webster 
to refuse clerkship, moves his ad- 
mission to the bar, 31. 

Greece, revolution in, 132. 

Hamilton, Alexander, compared with 
Webster as an orator, 201 ; as a finan- 
cier, 208, 226, 228 ; in regard to at- 
tack on Adams, 274 ; Webster's opin- 
ion of, and feeling to, 349. 

Hanover, oration before citizens of, 
20 22. 

Harrison, William Henry, nominee of 
Whigs in 1836, 225 : nominated by 
Whigs again in 1839 ; elected Pres- 
ident, 240; character of inaugural 
speech, anecdote, 244 ; reception 
of diplomatic corps, 245 ; death of, 
250. 

Hartford Convention, Mr. Webster's 
view of, 58. 

Harvey, Peter, character of his rem- 
iniscences, 95, note. 

Hayne, Robert Y., first attack on 
New England, 172 : second speech, 
173 ; Webster's reply to, 174 ff., 279 ; 
effect of reply to, 206. 

Henry, Patrick, compared with Web- 
ster as an orator, 200. 

Hoar, Samuel, treatment of at Charles- 
ton, 302. 

Holmes, John, counsel for State at 
| Washington, poor argument, 84, 91. 
Hopkinson, Joseph, with Mr. Webster 
in Dartmouth case at Washington 
good argument of, 84. 
; Hulsemann, Mr., Austrian Charge - , Mr. 
Webster's correspondence with, 334; 
leaves the country in anger, 335. 

Ingersoll, C. J., attack on Mr. Web* 
! ter, 267-270. 



866 



INDEX. 



Jackson, Andeew, Webster's opposition 
to as candidate for presidency, 145 ; 
accession to the presidency, 171 ; 
sweeping removals, 172 ; begins at- 
tack on bank, 208 ; vetoes bill for 
renewal of bank charter, 209 ; de- 
termined to maintain integrity of 
Union, 212 ; issues his proclamation, 
213 ; message asking for Force Bill, 
cannot hold his party, supported by 
Webster, 214 ; threatens to hang 
Calhoun, 215 ; not sorry for com- 
promise, 219 ; alliance with Web- 
ster impossible, 221 ; removes the 
deposits, 226 ; sends "Protest" to 
Senate, 228, 229 ; struggle with Sen- 
ate and policy toward France, 230. 

Jefferson, Thomas, intends an unlim- 
ited embargo, 45 ; eulogy on, 125. 

Johnson, Judge, adverse at first to 
Dartmouth college, 87 ; converted 
to support of college, 93. 

Kent, James, Chancellor, brought 
over to support of college, 93. 

Kentucky, leaders in, opposed to Web- 
ster, 224, 225. 

Kossuth, arrival and reception of in 
United States, 335. 

Laboiichere, Mr., 152. 

Lawrence, Abbot, treatment of by 
Mr. Webster, 354. 

Leroy, Caroline, Miss, second wife of 
Mr. Webster, 205. 

Letcher, Robert P., opinion of Web- 
ster 225. 

Liberty party, 262, 287. 

Lieber, Dr. Francis, opinion of Web- 
ster's oratory, 187. 

Lincoln, Levi, elected senator from 
Massachusetts and declines, 144. 

Livingston, Judge, adverse at first to 
Dartmouth college, 87 ; converted 
to support of college^ 93. 

Lobos Islands, affair of the, 336. 

Lopez, invasion of Cuba, 336. 

Madison, James, Federalists refuse to 
call on, 60 ; vetoes Bank Bill, 64 ; 
Mr. Webster's admiration for, 349. 

Macgregor, Mr., of Glasgow, Webster's 
letter to, 266. 

Maine, conduct in regard to north- 
eastern boundary, 248, 254, 256. 

Marshall, John, sympathy for Dart- 
mouth College, 87 ; his political 
prejudices aroused by Webster, 88 ; 
annoimces that decision is reserved, 
92 ; declines to hear Pinkney, 95 ; j 
his decision. 96. 

Marshfield, Mr. Webster's first visit | 



to, 152 ; his affection for, 261 ; ac- 
cident to Mr. Webster at, 343 ; Mr. 
Webster returns to, to die, 344 ; Mr. 
Webster buried at, 345, 346. 

Mason, Jeremiah, character and abil- 
ity, 38 ; effect upon, and friendship 
for Webster, 39 ; plain style and ef- 
fect with juries, 40 ; thinks Webster 
would have made a good actor, 42 ; 
allied with trustees of college, 76 ; 
advises delay in removal of Whee- 
lock, 78 ; appears for college, 79 ; 
brief in college case, 80 ; attaches 
but little importance to doctrine of 
impairing contracts, 81 ; unable to 
go to Washington, 84; Webster's 
remarks on death of, 127 ; supported 
by Webster for attorney-generalship, 
148 ; and for senatorship, 150. 

Mason, John Y., advocates slavery in 
California, 320 ; Webster's compli- 
ment to on 7th of March, 326- 

Massachusetts, settlement of, 1, 2 ; 
constitutional convention of in 1820, 
110 ; Webster's defence of, 185 ; con- 
duct in regard to northeastern 
boundary, 248, 254 ; Whig conven- 
tion of, declares against Tyler, 258. 

McDuffie, George, Webster's reply to, 
on Cumberland Road Bill, 137, 173. 

McLane, Louis, instructions of Van 
Buren to, as minister to England, 
210. 

McLeod, Alexander, boasts of killing 
Durfree, 247 ; arrested in New York, 
247 ; habeas corpus refused, 249 ; 
proves an alibi and is acquitted, 252. 

Melbourne, Lord, ministry of, beaten, 
252. 

Mexico, war with, declared, 270, 290. 
Mills, E. H., failing health, leaves 

Senate, 144. 
Monroe, James, visit to the North 

urged by Webster, 129. 

New Hampshire, settlement of, 2 ; soil, 
etc. , 3 ; people of, 4 ; bar of, 35, 36 ; 
Webster refuses to have Ms name 
brought forward by, in 1844, 262. 

New Mexico, petitions against slavery, 
298 ; quarrel with Texas, 299 ; slav- 
ery possible in, 319. 

New Orleans, destruction of Spanish 
consulate at, 336. 

New York, attitude of, in McLeod af- 
fair, 248, 249. 

Niagara, Webster's visit to, and ac- 
count of, 152. 

Niblo's Garden, Mr. Webster's speech 
at, 238. 

Nicaragua, British protectorate of, 
336. 



INDEX. 



367 



Niles> Nathaniel, Judge, pupil of Bel- 
lamy and opponent of John Whee- 
lock, 75. 

Noyes, Parker, early assistance to 

Webster, 107. 
Nullification, Webster's discussion and 

history of, 174 ft. 

Ogden vs. Saunders, case of, 100. 

Oregon, boundary of, Webster's effort 
to settle, 260-264; Webster's opin- 
ion in regard to boundary of, 265 ; 
claims of British and of Democracy, 
265 ; territorial organization of, 294. 

Otis, iEarrison Gray, a leader at Bos- 
ton bar, 30. 

Palmerston, Lord, hostile to the 
United States, 248 ; assails Ashbur- 
ton treaty and Lord Ashburton, 259. 

Panama Congress, debate on mission 
to, 140, 279. 

Parker, Isaac, Chief Justice, in Massa- 
chusetts convention, 111. 

Parsons, Theophilus, Chief Justice of 
Massachusetts, 30 ; practice in New 
Hampshire, 36 ; argument as to vis- 
itatorial powers at Harvard College, 
81. 

Parton, James, description of Webster 
at public dinner, 195. 

Peake, Thomas, "Law of Evidence," 
Webster's attack on, 37. 

Peel, Sir Robert, effect of his obtain- 
ing office in 1841, 252. 

Pickering, Timothy, unwavering Fed- 
eralist, 50. 

Pinkney, William, member of four- 
teenth Congress, 64 ; counsel of State 
in Dartmouth case, 94, 95 ; anecdote 
of, with Webster, 95, note. 

Plumer, William, leading lawyer in 
New Hampshire and early opponent 
of Webster ; opinion of Webster, 
36 ; refutes Mr. Webster's attack on 
"Peake," 37 ; in ill health and un- i 
able to act for Wheelock, 76 ; elected 
Governor and attacks trustees, 78. 

Plymouth, oration at, 117-124, 277. 

Polk, James K. , elected President ; 
committed to annexation policy, 263; 
principal events of his administra- 
tion connected with slavery, 264 ; 
declarations as to Oregon, 265 ; ac- 
cepts Lord Aberdeen's offer of 
forty-ninth parallel, 266 ; real inten- 
tions as to Mexico and England, 267 ; 
refuses information as to secret ser- 
vice fund, 269 : brings on Mexican ' 
war, 270, 290 ; policy as to slavery 
in territories, 297. ( 

Portugal, treaty witii, 260. 



Prescott, James, J "dge, Webster's de- 
fence of, 197. 

Randolph, John, member of fourteenth 
Congress, 64 ; challenges Webster, 
67 ; takes part in debate on Greek 
resolution, 134. 

Rhode Island, case of, 104, 105 ; troub- 
les in, 260. 

" Rockingham Memorial," 48. 

"Rogers' Rangers," 5. 

Root, Mr., of Ohio, resolution against 
extension of slavery in 1850, 314. 

Scott, Wlntteld, nominated for presi* 
dency, 338-343. 

Seaton, Mrs. , Webster at house of, 244. 

Seward, William H., advises Taylor 
as to policy in 1850, 312. 

Sheridan, R. B., compared with Web- 
ster as an orator, 201, 202. 

Shirley, John M., history of Dart* 
mouth College causes, 74. 

Silliman, Prof. Benj., Mr. Webster's 
remark to on his own career, 346. 

Smith, Jeremiah, Chief Justice of New 
Hampshire, 36 ; allied with trustees 
of the college, 76 ; appears for col- 
lege, 79, 80 ; unable to go to Wash- 
ington, 84. 

Smith, Sidney, remark on Webster's 
appearance, 194. 

Spanish claims, 152. 

Sparks, Jared, obtains appointment of 
boundary commissioners by Maine, 
254. 

" Specie Circular," debate on, 233, 234. 

South Carolina, agitation in against 
the tariff in 1828, 171 ; ordinance of 
nullification, 212 ; substantial vic- 
tory of, in 1S33, 219. 

Stanley, Mr., Earl of Derby, 152. 

Stevenson, Andrew, minister to Eng- 
land, unconciliatory, 248 ; retires, 
and is succeeded by Mr. Everett, 252. 

Story, Joseph, chosen trustee of Dart- 
mouth College by the State, 79 ; ad- 
verse to Dartmouth College, 87 ; con- 
verted to support of college, 93 ; 
writes opinion in Dartmouth case, 
96 ; opinion of Girard will case ar- 
gument, 102 ; Webster's obligations 
to, 108 : a member of Massachusetts 
convention, 111 ; supports property 
qualification for the Senate, 115 ; 
opinion of Webster's work in the con* 
vention, 116, 117 ; Webster's remarks 
on death of, 127 ; assists Webster in 
preparing Crimes Act, 138 : and Ju- 
diciary Bill, .139 ; description of Mr» 
Webster after his wife's death, 155; 
assists Webster in Ashburton nego- 



368 



INDEX. 



tiation, 256 ; treatment of, by Web- 
ster, 354. 

Sullivan, George, leading lawyer in 
New Hampshire, 36 ; counsel for 
Woodward and State trustees, able 
argument, 79. 

Sullivan, James, 30. 

Taney, Roger, removes the deposits, 
226. 

Tayloe, B. Ogle, anecdote of Mr. Cor- 
coran's gift to Webster, 357. 

Taylor, Zachary, tempting candidate 
for Whigs, 272 ; movement for, in 
New York, 273 ; nominated for pres- 
idency, 273 ; elected President, 274 ; 
elected by Southern votes, 296 ; ad- 
vises admission of California, 301 ; 
attitude and policy in 1850, 311, 
312 ; death, 333 ; agent sent to Hun- 
gary by, 333. 

Tazewell, L. W., Mr. Webster's reply 
to on Process Bill, 155. 

Tehauntepec, Isthmus of, right of way 
over, 336. 

Texas, independence of, achieved, 
232 ; annexation of, 263, 289 ; Mr. 
Webster's warning against annexa- 
tion, 288 ; admission as a State, 290 ; 
plan to divide, 294 ; troubles with 
New Mexico, 299. 

Thompson, Thomas W., Webster a 
student in his office, 27. 

Ticknor, George, account of Plymouth 
oration, 118, 119 ; impression of 
Plymouth oration, 120 ; description 
of Webster at Plymouth, 122 ; ac- 
count of Webster's appearance in 
eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, 152, 
153. 

Todd, Judge, opposed to Dartmouth 
College, 87 ; absent at decision, 96. 

Tyler, John, succeeds to presidency on 
death of Harrison ; vetoes Bank Bill, 
250 ; quarrels with Whigs, 251 ; read 
out of party by Massachusetts Whigs, 
258. 

Van Buren, Martin, instructions to 
McLane, 210 ; confirmation as min- 
ister to England, opposed, 210 ; con- 
firmation of, defeated, 211 ; elected 
President, character of his admin- 
istration, 236 ; defeated for a second 
term, 240 ; candidate of Free-Soil 
party in 1848, 274, 296. 

Washington, Bushrod, Judge, friendly 
to college, 87 ; opinion in favor of 
college, 96. 

Washington, city of, appearance of, 
and society in, in 1841, 241-243. 



Washington, George, opinion of Eber* 
ezer Webster, 7 ; oration upon, 127. 

Webster, Abigail Eastman, second 
wife of Ebenezer and mother of 
Daniel, 8 ; assents to Ezekiel's going 
to college, 24. 

Webster, Daniel. Birth, delicacy, 
friendship with old sailor,. 9 ; at the 
district schools, 10 ; reads to the 
teamsters, reads books in circulat- 
ing library, 11 ; at Exeter Academy, 
with Dr. Wood, learns that he is to 
go to college, 12 ; enters Dartmouth 
College, 13 ; sacrifices made to him 
in childhood, 14 ; Ezekiel lends him 
money, manner of accepting devo- 
tion of those about him, 15 ; studies 
and scholarship, 16, 17 ; opinions of 
fellow students ; his general conduct, 
18 ; eloquence and appearance in 
college, 19 ; edits newspaper, writes 
verses, 20 ; oration at Hanover, 20- 
22 ; other orations in college, begins 
study of law, 23 ; obtains his fath- 
er's consent to Ezekiel's going to 
college, 24 ; teaches school at Frye- 
burg, 25 ; conduct and appearance 
at Fryeburg, 26 ; delivers oration at 
Frj-eburg ; returns to Salisbury and 
studies law, 27 ; goes to Boston and 
is admitted to Mr. Gore's office, 28 ; 
sees leaders of Boston bar, 29 ; ap. 
pointed clerk of his father's court, 
30 ; declines the office, 31 ; opens an 
office at Boscawen ; moves to Ports- 
mouth, 32 ; early habit of debt, 33 ; 
first appearance in court, 34 ; early 
manner, 37 ; described by Mason, 
opinion of Mason's ability, 38 ; value 
of Mason's example, 40 ; married to 
Miss Grace Fletcher, at Salisbury, 
41 ; home in Portsmouth, popular- 
ity, mimicry, conservatism in re- 
ligion and politics, 42 ; moderate 
and liberal Federalist, 43 ; gradual 
entrance into politics, "appeal to 
old Whigs," speeches at Salisbury 
and Concord, pamphlet on embargo, 
44; line of argument against embargo, 
"The State of our literature," 
speech at Portsmouth, 1812, 45 ; 
character of opposition to war in 
this speech, 46, 47 ; writes the 
" Rockingham Memorial," 48 ; elect- 
ed to Congress, placed on Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, 49; 
introduces resolutions on French 
decrees, votes steadily with his 
party, 50 ; dropped from Committee 
on Foreign Relations, tries to ob. 
tain debate on his resolutions, 51 j 
strong speech against Enlistment 



INDEX. 



369 



Bill, 52 ; speech on repeal of em- 
bargo, replies to Calhoun, 54 ; re- 
marks on double duties, 55 ; charac- 
ter of these speeches, 56 ; superior- 
ity to other speakers in Congress, 
57 ; views as to Hartford Conven- 
tion, 58 ; votes against war taxes, 
59 ; partisanship, calls on Mr. Mad- 
ison, 60 ; conversational manner in 
debate, 61 ; takes a leading part in 
debate on establishment of bank, 
1814-15, 62 ; power of his argument 
against irredeemable paper, 63 ; 
opinion of fourteenth Congress, 64 ; 
speech against Bank Bill in session 
of 1815-16, 65 ; votes against Bank 
Bill, introduces specie resolutions, 
carries them 66 ; challenged by Ran- 
dolph, 67; votes for internal improve-, 
ments, retires from public life, 68; re- 
moval to Boston, success in Supreme 
Court of United States, 69 ; grief at 
the death of his daughter Grace, 70 ; 
position on leaving Congress, 71 ; 
reception in Boston, 72 ; impor- 
tance of period upon which he then 
entered, 73 ; consulted by John 
Wheelock on troubles with trustees, 
76; refuses to appear before legis- 
lative committee for Wheelock, and 
goes over to side of trustees, his ex- 
cuse, 77 ; advises efforts to soothe 
Democrats and circulation of ru- 
mors of founding a new college, 78 ; 
joins Mason and Smith in re-argu- 
ment at Exeter, 79 ; anger at Bart- 
lett's attack, fine argument at Exe- 
ter, 80 ; relies for success on general 
principles, and has but little faith 
in doctrine of impairing obligation 
of contracts, 81, 82 ; gives but little 
space to this doctrine in his argu- 
ment at Washington, 83 ; raises 
money in Boston to defray ex- 
penses of college case, 84 ; adds 
but little to argument of Mason 
and Smith, 85 ; " something left 
out" in report of his argument, 
86 ; dexterous argument, aopeal to 
political sympathies of Marshall, 
87 ; depicts Democratic attack on 
the college, 88 ; description of con- 
cluding passage of his argument, 
89-91 ; moves for judgment nunc 
pro tune, 96; true character of 
success in this case, 97, 98; argu- 
ment in Gibbons vs. Ogden, 99 ; in 
Ogden vs. Saunders and other cases, 
100 ; in Girard will cas3, 101, 102 •, 
nature of his religious feeling, 103 ; 
argument in Rhode Island case, 104 ; 
attracts audiences even to legal ar- 



guments, anecdote of Mr. Bos- 
worth, 105 ; skill in seizing vital 
points, 106 ; capacity for using 
others, early acknowledgment, la- 
ter ingratitude, 107 ; refusal to ac- 
knowledge Judge Story's assistance, 
108 ; comparative standing as a law- 
yer, 109 ; leader of conservative 
party in Massachusetts Convention, 
111 ; speech on abolition of religious 
test, 112 ; on property qualification 
for the Senate, 113, 115 ; on the in- 
dependence of the Judiciary, 116 ; 
Plymouth oration, 117 ; manner and 
appearance, 118 ; fitness for occa- 
sional oratory, 120 ; great success 
at Plymouth, 121, 122 ; improve- 
ment in first Bunker Hill oration, 
quality of style, 124 ; oration on 
Adams and Jefferson, 125 ; sup- 
posed speech of John Adams, 126 ; 
oration before Mechanics Institute, 
other orations, 127 ; oration on lay- 
ing corner-stone of addition to cap- 
itol, 128 ; reelected to Congress, 
129 ; political position in 1823, 130 ; 
placed at head of Judiciary Com- 
mittee, 131 ; speech on revolution 
in Greece, 132 ; its objects and 
purposes, 133, 134 ; withdraws his 
resolutions, success of his speech, 
135 ; spee ih against tariff of 1824, 
defends S jprenie Court, 136 ; speech 
on the Cumberland Road Bill, 137 ; 
carries through the Crimes Act, 
138 ; carries Judiciary Bill through 
House, lost in Senate, 139 ; supports 
mission to Panama Congress, 140, 
141: supports reference of message 
on Georgia and Creek Indians, 142 ; 
tone of his speech, 143 ; elected sen- 
ator from Massachusetts, 144 ; early 
inclination to support Calhoun, op- 
position to Jackson and Adams, 145 ; 
to Clay, relations with Crawford, 146; 
on committee to examine charges of 
Edwards, defends Crawford, 147 ; 
wishes Mr. Mason to be Attorney- 
General, and English mission for 
himself, takes but little part in 
election, 148 : interview with Mr. 
Adams, 148, 149 ; friendly relations 
with Mr. Adams, supports adminis- 
tration, 149 ; real hostility to, feels 
that he is not properly recognized, 
and accepts senatorship, 150 ; inac- 
tive in election, allied with Clay 
and Adams, and founders of Whig 
party, 151 ; Spanish claims, first 
sees Marshfield, English friends, 
Niagara, oration at Bunker Hill, 
and eulogy on Adams and Jeffej> 



£4 



370 



INDEX, 



son, 152, 153 ; grief on death of his 
wife, 154 ; appearance in Washing- 
ton after death of his wife, 155 ; 
speech on bill for revolutionary of- 
ficers, on tariff of 1828, 156, 165; 
free-trade Federalist when he en- 
tered Congress,. 157 ; remarks in 
1814 on protective duties, 158, 159 ; 
advocates modifications in tariff of 
1816, 160 ; speech at Faneuil Hall 
against tariff in 1820,, 160-163; speech 
against tariff of 1824 t 163-165 ; 
reasons for his change of position 
as to tariff in 1828, 166 y 167 ; speech 
at Boston dinner, 1G7 ; character of 
this change of policy, and question 
of consistency, 168 ; treats free 
trade or protection as a question 
of expediency, 169 ; change on the 
constitutional question, 170 ; op- 
poses Jackson's removals from of- 
fice, 172 ; first speech on Foote's 
resolution, 173 ; second speech, re- 
ply to Hayne, 174 ; argument on 
nullification, 175 ; weak places in 
his argument, 176 ; intention in this 
speech, definition of the Union as it 
is, 179, 180 ; scene of the speech and 
feeling at the North, 181 ; opening 
sentence of the speech, 182 ; man- 
ner and appearance on that day, 
183 ; variety in the speech, 184 ; 
sarcasm, defence of Massachusetts, 
185 ; character of his oratory, 186, 
187 ; of his imagination, 188 ; of his 
style, 189 ;. preparation of speeches, 
190 ; physical appearance and at- 
tributes, 191, 192 ; manner with and 
effect on children, 193 : effect of his 
appearance in England, 194; anec- 
dotes of effect produced by his look 
and appearance, 195 ; constitutional 
indolence, needs something to excite 
him in later life, anecdote, 196 ; de- 
fence of Prescott, 197 ; Goodridge 
case, White case, greatness of argu- 
ment in latter, 198 ; opening pas- 
sage compared with Burke's de- 
scription of Hyder Ali's invasion, 
199 ; as a jury lawyer, 200 ; com- 
pared in eloquence with other great 
orators, 201, 202 ; perfect taste of as 
an orator, 203 ; rank as an orator, 
204 ; change made by death of Eze- 
kiel and by second marriage, 205 ; 
general effect on the country of re- 
ply to Hayne, 206 ; ambition for 
presidency begins, desires consoli- 
dation of party, no chance for 
nomination, 207 ; advocates re- 
newal of bank charter, 208; over- 
throws doctrines of bank veto, 



2C9; opposes confirmation of Yan 
Buren as minister to England, 210 ; 
defeats confirmation, 211 : predicts 
trouble from tariff, 212 ; sees proc- 
lamation, wholly opposed to Clay's 
first Com premise Bill, 213 ; sustains 
the administration and sur ports the 
Force Bill, 214; reply to Calhoun, 
"the Constitution net a compact,' 5 
216, 217 ; opposes the Compromise 
Bill, 218 ; Benton's view of, 219, 220 ; 
impossible to ally himself with Jack- 
sen, 221 ; joins Clay and Calhoun, 
222; soundness of his opposition to 
compromise, 223 ; falls in behind 
Clay, tour in the West, nominated 
by Massachusetts for presidency, 
224 ; no chance of success, effect of 
desire for presidency, 225 ; alliance 
with Clay and Calhoun, opinion as to 
the bank, 226 ; presents Boston reso- 
lutions against President's course, 
227 ; speaks sixty-four times on bank 
during session, 228 ; speech on the 
"protest," 229; attitude in regard 
to troubles with France, 230 ; defeats 
Fortification Bill, speech on execu- 
tive patronage, 231 ; defeat of Ben- 
ton's first expunging resolution, 232 ; 
defence of his course on Fortification 
Bill, 233 ; speech on "Specie Circu- 
lar " and against expunging resolu- 
tion, 234 ; desires to retire from the 
Senate but is persuaded to remain, 
235 ; efforts to mitigate panic*, 236 ; 
visits England, hears of Harrison's 
nomination for presidency, 237 ; en- 
ters campaign, speech of 1837 at Nib- 
lo's Garden, 238; speeches during 
campaign, 239; accepts secretary- 
ship of state, 240 ; modifies Harri- 
son's inaugural, "kills proconsuls," 
244; De Bacourt's account of, at 
reception of diplomatic corps, 245, 
246 ; opinion as to general conduct 
of difficulties with England, 248 ; 
conduct of McLeod affair, 249 ; dep- 
recates quarrel with Tyler, 250 ; de- 
cides to remain in the cabinet, 252 ; 
conduct of the Creole case, 253 ; 
management of Maine and Massa* 
chusetts, settles boundary, 254 ; ob- 
tains " Cruising Convention," and 
extradition clause, letter on im- 
pressment, 255 ; character of nego- 
tiation and its success, 256 ; treaty 
signed, "the battle of the maps," 
continues in cabinet, 257 ; refuses 
to be forced from cabinet, 258; 
speech in Faneuil Hall defending 
his course, 258 ; character of this 
speech, explains "Cruising Conven. 



INDEX. 



371 



tion," 259 ; refutes Cass, other labors 
in State Department, 260 ; resigns 
secretaryship of state and resumes 
his profession, 261 ; anxiety about 
Texas and Liberty party, supports 
Clay, 262 ; reelected to the Senate, 
263 ; efforts to maintain peace with 
England, speech in Faneuil Hall, 
265 ; letter to Macgregor suggesting 
forty-ninth parallel, opposition to 
war in the Senate, 266 ; attacked by 
Ingersoll and Dickinson, 267 ; 
speech in defence of Ashburton 
treaty, 268; remarks on President 
Folk's refusal of information as to 
secret service fund, careless in his 
accounts, 269 ; absent when Mexi- 
can war declared, course on war 
measures, tour in the South, 270 ; 
denounces acquisition of territory, 
death of his son and daughter, visit 
to Boston for funerals, 271 ; re- 
fuses nomination for vice-presi- 
dency and opposes the nomination 
of Taylor, 272 ; has only a few votes 
in convention of 1848, 273 ; disgusted 
with the nomination of Taylor, de- 
cides to support it, speech at Marsh- 
field, 274; course on slavery, draws 
Boston memorial, 275 ; character of 
this memorial, 276 ; attack on slave- 
trade in Plymouth oration, 277 ; 
compared with tone on same sub- 
ject in 1850, 278 ; silence as to slav- 
ery in Panama speech, 279 ; treat- 
ment of slavery in reply to Hayne, 
279, 280 ; treatment of anti-slavery 
petitions in 1836, 281 ; treatment of 
slavery in speech at Niblo's G-arden, 
282, 283 ; treatment of anti-slavery 
petitions in 1837, 284 ; views as to 
abolition in the District, 285 ; atti- 
tude toward the South in 1838, 286 ; 
adopts principle of Calhoun's En- 
terprise resolutions in Creole case, 
287 ; attempts to arouse the North 
as to annexation of Texas, 288 ; ob- 
jections to admission of Texas, 280 ; 
absent when Mexican war declared, 
290 ; view3 on Wilmot Proviso, 291 ; 
speech at Springfield, 292 ; speech 
on objects of Mexican war, 293 ; 
Oregon, speech on slavery in the 
territories, 294 ; speech on Oregon 
Bill, and at Marshfield on Taylor's 
nomination, 295 ; adheres to Whigs, 
declares his belief in Free Soil prin- 
ciples, 296; effort to put slavery 
aside, 297 ; plan for dealing with 
slavery in Mexican conquests, re- 
futes Calhoun's argument as to Con- 
stitution in territories, 298 ; Clay's 



plan of compromise submitted to, 
300 ; delivers 7th of March speech, 
301 ; analysis of 7th of March speech, 
3C1, 302 ; speech disapproved at the 
North, 303 ; previous course as to 
slavery summed up, change after re- 
ply to Hayne, 304 ; grievances of 
South, 305 ; treatment of Fugitive 
Slave Law, 305-308 ; course in regard 
to general policy of compromise ; 
merits of that policy, 308-312 ; views 
as to danger of secession, 313, 314 ; 
necessity of compromise in 1850, 315 ; 
attitude of various parties in regard 
to slavery, 316 ; wishes to finally set- 
tle slavery question, 317 ; treatment 
of extension of slavery, 318 ; disre- 
gards use of slaves in mines, 319 ; in- 
consistent on this point, 321 ; inter- 
views with Giddings and Free-Soil- 
ers, 322 ; real object of speech, 323 ; 
immediate effect of speech in pro- 
ducing conservative reaction, 324 ; 
compliments Southern leaders in 
7th of March speech, 325, 326 ; efforts 
to sustain the compromise measures, 
bitter tone, 327 ; attacks anti-slavery 
movement, 328, 329 ; uneasiness evi- 
dent, 330 ; motives of speech, 330- 
332 ; accepts secretaryship of state, 
333 ; writes the Hiilsemann letter, 
334 ; treatment of Kossuth and 
Hungarian question, 335 ; of other 
affairs of the department, 336; 
hopes for nomination for presidency, 
337 ; belief that he will be nomi- 
nated, 338 ; loss of the nomination, 
339 ; refuses to support Scott, 340 ; 
character of such a course, 341-343 ; 
declining health, accident at Marsh- 
field, 343 ; return to Marshfield, sinks 
steadily, 344 ; death and burial, 345 ; 
disappointments in his later years, 
346 ; his great success in life, 347 ; 
his presence, 348 ; character of his 
intellect, 348, 349; dignity, 349; 
character as a statesman, 350 ; sense 
of humor, 351 ; charm in conversa- 
tion, 352 ; large nature, love of large 
things, 353 ; affection, generosity, 
treatment of friends, 354 ; admired 
but not generally popular, 355 ; jdis- 
trust of his sincerity, 355, 356 ; fail- 
ings, indifference to debt, 356 ; ex- 
travagance, 357 ; attacked on money 
matters, 358 ; attitude toward New 
England capitalists and in regard to 
sources of money, 359 ; moral force 
not equal to intellectual, 360 ; devo- 
tion to Union, place in history, 361- 
362. 

Webster, Ebenezer, born in Kingston, 



372 INDEX. 



enlists in "Rangers," 5 ; settles at 
Salisbury, 6 ; marries again, serves 
in Revolution, 7 ; physical and men- 
tal qualities, 8 ; made a judge, 11 ; 
resolves to educate Daniel, 12 ; con- 
sents to let Ezekiel go to college, 
24 ; disappointment at Daniel's re- 
fusal of clerkship, 31 ; death, 32 ; 
strong Federalist, anecdote, 43. 
Webster, Edward, Major, death of, 
270. 

Webster, Ezekiel, anecdote of his 
lending Daniel money, 15 ; obtains 
consent of his father to go to col- 
lege, 24 ; teaches school in Boston, 
28 ; admitted to bar, 32 : strong Fed- 
eralist, 43 ; death of, 205. 

Webster, Grace, daughter of Daniel 
Webster, illness, 65 ; death, 70. 

Webster, Grace Fletcher, first wife of 
Mr. Webster ; marriage and char- 
acter, 41, 42 ; death, 154. 

W ebster, Thomas, first of name, 5. 

Wheelock, Eleazer, founder of Dart- 
mouth College, 75. 

Wheelock, John, succeeds his father 
as President of Dartmouth College, 
75 ; begins war on trustees ; con- 
sults Mr. Webster, 76; writes to 
Webster to appear before legisla- 
tive committee, 77 ; removed from 
presidency and goes over to the 
Democrats, 78 ; originator of the 
doctrine of impairing obhgation of 
contracts. 81; fees Mr. Webster, 

m 



Whig Party, origin of, 151 ; condition 
in 1836, 235 ; nominate Harrison, 
237, 238 ; carries the country in 1840, 
240 ; anger against Tyler, 250 ; mur- 
murs against Mr. Webster's re- 
maining in Tyler's cabinet, 257 ; at- 
tacks of, in Massachusetts, upon Ty- 
ler, 258 ; silence about slavery and 
Texas, are defeated in 1844, 262, 
289 ; nominate Taylor, 273 ; indiffer- 
ence to Mr. Webster's warning as to 
Texas, 288 ; attitude in regard to 
slavery in 1850, 316 : nomination of 
Scott by, in 1852, 338-343. 

Wnite, Stephen, case of murder of, 
Webster's speech for prosecution, 
198 ft. ; Webster's fee in, 359. 

Wilmot Proviso, Mr. Webster's views 
on, 291-293 : embodied in Oregon 
Bill, 295 ; shall it be applied to New 
Mexico, 299; attacked in 7th of 
March speech, 301, 302. 

Wirt, William, counsel for State in 
Dartmouth case at Washington, un- 
prepared, makes poor argument, 84, 
91 ; anecdote of daughter of and 
Mr. Webster, 193. 

Wood, Dr., of Boscawen, Webster's 
tutor, 12, 13. 

Woodward, William H., secretary of 
new board of trustees; action 
against, 79. 

Wortley, Mr. Stuart, 152. 

Yancey, William L., attack on Web- 
ster, 358. 



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